Waiting For Batman
by AlexBlackWeasley
Summary: Julianna Carlson was that quiet, kind girl no one really knew, but everyone liked. That was, until something terrible led her to spending an evening at the police station and meeting non-other than Stiles Stilinski. Yes, she knew who he was, but now, he's set on knowing her. Is it because of what happened, or does he really want to know everything about her?
1. Chapter 1

**Before you get into this story, I'd like to let you know that by me starting this fic does not, in any way, that I am done with Just Enough Time or that I will not be working on one of the four stories I've asked you to vote for. Waiting For Batman was an idea I had and that I haven't been able to stop. Yes, JET is on a short hiatus until the end of the season. I have plans for the ending of that story, but I need to see what happens in the show to know how I'm going to work my desired ending into the show's plot. Like JET, Waiting for Batman is un-Beta-ed, so there will likely be mistakes in spelling and grammar. Thank you for your patience with JET, if you are reading this story, and I hope you enjoy Waiting for Batman as well.  
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**This story starts in the summer between seasons 2 and 3, taking place in that June (of 2011) and continuing on into season 3, though it will be a while until this story has gotten into the actual show's plot. This story has also already made it's debut on Wattpad, you can find the link to it on my profile. Just Enough Time will be moving over to Wattpad after I have finished it here.**

**Title inspired by the song 'Waiting for Superman' by Daughtry. Feel free to listen to it while reading this story. It's all I listened to while writing most of this.**

**WARNING: This first chapter is covering an incident of rape, mostly post-event, but does talk about what happened leading up to it. This may be a trigger for some, so please, read at your own risk.**

* * *

When I was able to open my eyes, I discovered myself on the edge of the woods, along one of the less popular paths for runners. The man must have dumped me here, for I was certain we had been in a house before I had passed out. I was dressed in barely anything, causing myself to shiver despite the early summer warm. With shaking limbs, I was able to use a tree to pull myself up onto my bare feet, wincing at the pain in my hips and abdomen. I could see bruises on my wrists, and knew there were likely ones on my neck as well.

I wanted to cry, to just collapse back onto the leaves and never get back up. Instead, I took an unsteady step towards town, wrapping my arms around myself. I was still dressed in my pajamas from the night before, a tank top that barely covered my midriff and a pair of basketball shorts that belonged to my older brother, but were now too small for him. My bare feet caused leaves to softly crunch under my weight as I walked slowly, and the slight sting of pain from stepping on a twig or acorn was nothing compared to the pain I felt through the rest of my body.

Finally, I broke through the trees, coming to the side of the road. I was just on the edge of town, not far from the old Hale House. Turning to my right, I started walking along the edge of the road and to town. It was a long walk to the police station, but I knew right now that was the best option for me.

The sun had just started to touch the tree tops when a police cruiser pulled up beside me, slowing down before we both stopped. I turned to the car as two officers stepped out, one man, one woman.

"Miss, are you alright?" The woman asked, stepping towards me. I shook my head slowly, starting to feel the tears in my eyes now. "Can you tell us what happened?" She asked softly, placing a hand on my arm.

I let out a shaky breath as I looked up at her. "I was raped."

* * *

After they two officers had called in what had happened to me, they were instructed to bring me to the hospital for some tests before they brought me to the station. On the way there, I sat in the back of the police cruiser with the female officer.

"Now, is there anyone we can call for you?" She asked, using a damp napkin from the glove box to wipe some of the dirt and tear stains from my cheeks gently.

"W-Well my mother is out of town for work, and my dad should be at the hospital right now." I told her, pulling her jacket closer around me. "He's a surgeon there, Doctor Carlson."

"Oh yes, I know him. He did a lung transplant on my younger sister, saved her life. He's a very good surgeon, you must be proud." She said, smiling at me.

"I-I am." I returned the smile hesitantly. "W-What's your name again?" I asked.

"Amy." She told me. "Officer Amelia Thompson. And that up there is my partner, Deputy Rory James."

I looked up to the front, returning the smile Deputy James gave me with a much smaller one. After we arrived at the hospital, I was rushed into an exam room with a female doctor who went over the basic tests that seemed to follow a rape incident, talking me through it so I wouldn't get too overwhelmed. I hadn't really known much about what happens to rape victims, though I did know that most rapes never got reported. The doctor told me I had done well during the tests, seeming to be a lot more calm than she had expected. I merely shrugged my shoulders and asked if my dad was busy.

Ten minutes later, I was sitting in the main waiting room of the hospital with Officer Thompson and Deputy James. My father had been in surgery, but they said he was nearly finished and would be able to see me before I was taken to the police station for questioning. I think I was more nervous facing my father as opposed to talking to the sheriff later.

"Jewels!"

I looked up at the sound of my father's nickname for me and saw him walking across the room, his white doctor's coat flapping behind him as he moved quickly towards me. I stood, wincing slightly as my hips protested slightly, though the pain was much less thanks to a couple pills the doctor had given me for the ache. The moment my father reached me, I was pulled against his chest in a tight embrace.

"Jewels, I am so sorry sweetheart, are you okay?" He asked, and I nodded into his chest before I pulled back slightly to look at him.

I looked nothing like my father, as many said. I had inherited so much of my looks from my mother, that the only thing I'd gotten from my father was the single dimple that appeared on my cheek when I smiled and the tone of my skin. Even my height I had inherited from my mother, and even though at 16 I was a couple inches taller than her, my father still towered about a foot over me.

"Doctor Carlson, I'm Officer Thompson." The police officer introduced herself as she stood up next to us. "My partner and I were the ones that found your daughter, but we'd like to take her to the station so she can tell us what happened."

"Of course. And thank you, for bringing her here." He said, smiling at the woman before he turned his attention back to me. "Jewels, do you want me to go with you?"

I shook my head. "No, stay, the hospital needs you more than I do right now." I said softly.

"They can call in Rodriquez or Jones, it's no big deal kiddo." He told me, a small frown on his face.

"Dad, stay, I promise to call when I'm all done at the station."

I knew he wanted to argue with me, knew that he wanted to go and not leave me alone. His next words surprised me, though maybe they shouldn't have.

"It's okay to show weakness after what happened kid, you don't have to be strong for anyone right now." He said.

I shook my head at him. "Yeah I do." I whispered, feeling tears in my eyes again. "I have to be strong for me."

He hugged me again after that before he was called back into surgery. He looked to Officer Thompson. "I have one more surgery scheduled for this evening, I'll be at the station in a couple hours when I'm done." He told her.

She nodded. "Understood sir. That should be enough time for us to talk to Julianna."

He nodded and kissed my forehead before he was gone.

* * *

Apparently the sheriff had gotten delayed by an accident on his way to the station, so I was sitting in the small room where they questioned people for about half an hour. Officer Thompson stopped in every now and then, bringing me water and even crackers. I drank from the bottle of water, but my stomach didn't feel like having more than that, so the crackers sat on the table.

I looked up at the sound of the door handle turning, blinking when I saw neither the face of Officer Thompson, Deputy James, or Sheriff Stilinski. No, the face that appeared in the crack of the door was my age, and I recognized it instantly, my breath catching in my throat.

Stiles Stilinski had been in half of my classes since seventh grade. He was the unofficial class clown, and one of the characters of my stories was based on him and his eccentric behavior. Watching him now as he looked at me as I sat frozen in my seat, my heart started to beat like crazy in surprise. Why was he here?

His eyes widened when he looked at me, and he quickly looked behind him, glancing both ways down the hallway before fully slipping into the room. He stopped when he closed the door, looking at me.

"I-Is it okay if I'm in here?" He asked, causing me to blink at him. "I can leave if you want me to."

I thought about it for a few, silent moments before shaking my head. "N-No, it's okay. Come in?"

He nodded rapidly, moving to sit in one of the chairs opposite of me. We sat there in silence for a few moments, me pulling my legs up and wrapping my arms around them so I was curled up in the chair. Stiles bit his lip, watching me. "You go to Beacon Hills High School, right?" He asked.

I nodded slowly. "We had Chemistry together." I said. "Actually, you've been in half my classes for the past three years."

He blinked and I saw the moment he recognized me. "You're that girl that's always writing in a journal of some sorts."

I blushed softly and nodded. "Yeah, that's my, ugh, work in progress." I winced slightly at my explanation, opening my mouth to add more only to be stopped by his next words.

"You're writing a book?" He asked.

I nodded again. "Yeah, it's…kind of a love story."

"Cool." His response was simple as he smiled a bit, leaning back in his chair.

We sat in silence for a little bit longer. It wasn't weird either, in fact, his presence made me feel less alone.

Stiles must have been watching me closely as I stared at the table top, for I shivered slightly in the air conditioned breeze. I had given Officer Thompson back her jacket, leaving me only in my tank top and shorts again.

"Are you cold?" He asked, causing me to look up.

I shrugged, blushing softly. "A little."

I was shocked when he stood up, shrugging off his outer plaid shirt and hesitantly walking around the table to offer it to me. I stared at it for a moment as he held it out to me before looking up at him.

He blushed softly, looking away. "Just thought it might help." He said, reaching up with his free hand to scratch the back of his neck nervously.

I smiled softly, reaching out and taking the shirt. It was much too big on me as I slipped my arms through the designated holes and wrapped it around myself. If I stood, it would probably reach half way down my shorts.

"Thank you." I said, offering him a small smile.

When he smiled back, I blushed a bit and looked away.

"Are you, um…aren't most…" Stiles made a noise I couldn't describe, though I knew it was caused by a mixture of frustration and uncertainty as I looked up at him.

"So you know what happened?" I asked.

"Oh, yeah. I was in my dad's cruiser when he got the call over the radio." He explained, waving his arms about as he talked. He'd done that for as long as I can remember. "A 261."

I nodded slowly, watching him. "261, that means rape I'm guessing."

He nodded in return, going back to sit across from me. "Yeah…are you okay?" He asked then shook his head. "Sorry, no, of course you aren't, that was a stupid question." Stiles groaned, resting his head on the table between us.

I smiled softly as I watched him. "It kind of was." I admitted, fidgeting a bit in my seat. I turned my head, burying my nose in the collar of his shirt and breathed in his scent. It smelled like curly fries, fallen leaves, and inexpensive cologne.

He looked up at me, his chin on the table. "Aren't, umm…aren't most people in your situation usually afraid of men?"

I blinked, looking back at him and shrugged. "No idea, probably."

"You aren't afraid of me." He pointed out.

A smile appeared on my lips as I ducked my head. "Maybe because I know you're a good person." I admitted quietly, though I knew in the silent room, he was able to hear me.

"Oh." His response was simple, and I glanced back up at him through my eyelashes. He was sitting up again, leaning back in his chair slightly as he stared at the table top.

We both jumped when the door opened, the sheriff and Stiles' father stepping into the room. The older man blinked when he saw his son sitting across from me, a frown appearing on his face.

"Stiles." The sheriff's voice held a tone of warning, and when I saw a sheepish look appear on Stiles' face, I knew he was about to get scolded for sneaking into here.

"It's okay sheriff." I spoke up before anything else could be said. "He actually helped me keep my mind of things while I was in here. It helped."

Both Stilinski men looked at me, causing me to blush. The sheriff let out a defeated sigh as Stiles smiled at me softly.

"Alright, fine, but Stiles, you need to get out now, I need to talk to miss Carlson alone." The sheriff said, looking at his son.

Stiles nodded and stood, but stopped when I spoke again.

"Actually, can he stay?"

They both looked at me in surprise, my blush darkening a bit.

"It's just, umm…I think it'll be easier to talk to him about it." I said, ducking my head.

There was silence for a few moments before I heard the sheriff sigh. "Fine, but only this once."

I looked up just in time to see Stiles grin at his father before bouncing back to his seat, smiling at me when he was seated across from me once again. I smiled shyly back before glancing at the sheriff as he sat beside his son with another sigh.

"Alright, Julianna, can you tell me…" He paused, glancing at his son who grinned at him. "Can you tell _us_ what happened?"

I swallowed nervously as I nodded, opening my mouth as I started to tell them everything.

* * *

**The previous evening, around 11 pm**

I had just stepped out of the bathroom, wrapped up in a large, fluffy blue towel, a white one wrapped around my head as I stepped across the hall and into my room. The rest of the house was eerily quiet, father at work and mother had just left that morning for a three day business trip. I was often left on my own like this, so it was not much different from any other night I was home alone.

Once in the sanctity of my own room, I let the towel fall to the floor and moved to my closet, pulling a black tank top and a navy pair of old basketball shorts from a drawer of the small dresser I kept in the closet. Grabbing underwear and a bra from another drawer, I quickly got dressed in the simple pajama outfit before removing the towel from my head. My hair was still damp, and I decided to let it air dry as I slept as opposed to taking the time to blow dry it.

Before slipping into bed, I turned off the light in my room, the small space light by the lamp on the small table that sat next to my bed. I slid under the covers, squirming into a comfortable position before turning off the lamp and letting myself slip into sleep. Right before sleep took over, I heard the sound of the door opening, and merely assumed my father was home early from his late night shift before I fell asleep.

When I woke, it was sudden. My cheek stung, so I assumed I'd been slapped. My eyes flew open, but I could not see a thing and when I reached up to touch my face, my hands were restricted by a tight bound, the cloth digging into my skin.

"Good, you're awake."

I froze at the unfamiliar voice, sudden realization dawning on me and causing me to whimper.

"No, please, get away from me." I tried squirming away from the source of the voice, but a rough, calloused hand gripped my ankle and pulled me roughly back to him. I felt his body suddenly loom over me, and the contact of skin on skin made me realize I'd been undressed while I was asleep.

Cheap cologne and bad hygiene filled my nose, causing me to gag as he whispered in my ear. "You're not going anywhere until I'm done with you."

I cried out as he forced by body to open up to him, kicking out and earning a growl when my knee made contact with his side. A shout left my lips as I was slapped again, this one meant to cause harm. My cheek continued to sting when he roughly pinned me down with his body, a whimper coming from my throat.

"You better behave bitch, I can make this more painful for you than it's going to be." He growled, causing me to still beneath him. I couldn't see him, but I knew he was grinning. "Good girl." He whispered in my ear as he shifted, positioning myself.

The cloth covering my eyes soaked up my tears as I cried silently.


	2. Chapter 2

When I finished telling them what I knew, the sheriff was writing still on the paper he'd set down on the table. Stiles was staring at me, but I wouldn't meet his eye. I'd started crying again as I recalled what happened, providing as much detail as I could when prompted too. For a minute or two, the only sound in the room was the scratch of the sheriff's pen on paper.

"And you said he penetrated you twice, correct?" The sheriff asked, looking at me. I glanced up at him, seeing the sorrow and pity in his eyes and nodded silently. He wrote something down, nodding slowly. "I haven't gotten the results of the test back from the doctor who examined you at the hospital, but could you tell if he was wearing a condom at all?"

I froze, never having thought about if the man who'd raped me had been wearing one or not. "N-No, I have no idea." I swallowed, ducking my head again. "When I went to bed last night, before he took me from my house, I was a virgin, so I wouldn't be able to tell from the feel."

I heard a sharp intake of breath, and something told me it had come from Stiles. Biting my lip, I looked back up at the sheriff. "Do you…do you think I might get pregnant?"

"We won't know if there's a chance of that until the test come back in." The sheriff responded. "Julianna, I promise we'll do everything to find this guy. I'm going to admit that you didn't give us much, but hopefully it's enough."

I nodded, the tears streaming down my face for an entirely different reason now. "Thank you sheriff." I said softly, watching as the man stood.

"Don't thank me yet." He said softly, smiling thinly as he turned to leave the room. "I'll let you two have a moment, but your father should be here to bring you home any minute Julianna."

I nodded, finally looking at Stiles. He looked at me for a moment before standing quickly. "Dad, hold up."

The sheriff paused just inside the door, turning to his son. "What is it Stiles?"

"Can I use your pen quick?"

The older man raised an eyebrow before handing the writing utensil to his son and leaving the room. Stiles came back to me, moving a chair to sit closer to me. He hesitated once he sat down, now sitting diagonally from me.

"Is it okay if I touch you?" He asked finally, and I nodded after a few seconds. He reached out, taking my hand in his and setting it on the table in front of him. Stiles leaned forward, using the pen to write something on my hand.

I leaned forward a bit myself, looking as he wrote down a series of numbers down under his name. When he finished, I counted ten number, his phone number.

"If you want to talk about anything, just text or call me." He said, looking up at me. "Well, if you want to that is."

I looked at him and smiled softly. "Thanks." I took my hand back, holding it in my other one as I looked down at it.

"And keep the shirt as long as you want. You need it more than I do right now." He added, setting the pen on the table and leaning back, fiddling with his hands. I nodded, looking at him again. "Is this weird?" He asked a few minutes later.

"Is what weird?" I asked, blinking at him.

"This." He gestured between us. "I mean, I don't think we've ever really talked to each other before today."

I shrugged, ducking my head as I smiled a bit. "A little." I admitted.

Stiles snorted out a soft laugh, causing me to look up at him. He wasn't looking at me, staring down at his hands with a slight smile on his face. He must have felt me staring, for he looked up. He opened his mouth, about to say something, but the door to the room opened again and I looked up to see my dad in the door way.

"Jewels, ready to go home?" He asked, glancing between us.

I nodded and stood, Stiles standing as well. He smiled and gave a slight wave as I walked past him towards the door. I smiled back.

Reaching my father and the door, I stopped, biting my lip. Turning back to look at Stiles, I saw the confusion on his face the moment I turned to him before I was going back to him, hugging him around the middle. Like my father, he was taller than me, but at least the top of my head reached his shoulders.

I felt Stiles tense under my grip before he slowly hugged me back, wrapping his long arms around my shoulders.

"Thanks again." I whispered before pulling back, smiling at him before going back to my father. The tall, older man looked between Stiles and myself, a slight frown on his face as his eyes held confusion. When I smiled up at him, though, the confusion melted away to worry and sadness and he smiled thinly back at me.

"Come on kiddo, let's get you home." He said softly before placing a hand on my shoulder, steering me away from the room and Stiles. I chanced a glance over my shoulder, seeing the other teen watching me as I left. When his eyes met mine for the brief moment, he smiled before he was gone from my line of sight.

* * *

The next few days passed slowly. Mom came home early from her business trip, neither parents wanting me to spend any time at home alone. They insisted that I call friends over to hang out, so I could distract myself, but the truth is, I had no friends that I felt comfortable knowing about what had happened. There was only Stiles, but something told me my parents wouldn't like the idea of me inviting a guy over, especially after what had happened. You would think they wouldn't be so protective about me with a guy after I'd been raped and scared of any sort of sexual contact for a long time.

So, instead I distracted myself with my books, both reading and writing. At least, I tried to write. Every time I sat down to write, I let my mind wander, but every time I did it now, I would remember things I didn't want to, things from that day. I'd promised myself to go out more this summer, not holing myself up inside as I usually do when I didn't have school, but suddenly the outside world held none of its old comforts, and nor was my imagination safe.

Sheriff Stilinski called the house twice since that day, keeping my parents up to date on the case. So far, they'd found nothing. Thankfully, it appeared that the man who'd raped me had used a condom, as there had been no evidence outside of my own blood of his acts. I was thankful of not having to worry about getting pregnant by the man, but still felt uneasy about the idea that he was out there somewhere.

It was three days after that day and I sat on my bed, staring at my phone. Downstairs, my mother was instructing a group of workers from a security company about as they installed a new system in the house to add some additional protection. I'd barely interacted with either of my parents since my mom got home, no matter how much she'd wanted to hover over me.

But basically being alone in my room for three straight days had been enough. I wanted some human interaction, but not the suffocating motherly-ness I'd get from my mother, and dad was at work. So that's why I was staring at my phone. There was only one person I knew who wouldn't question me about what happened, because they already knew.

Finally, I said screw what my mother would think and swiped the screen my phone, watching it light back up. I searched through my contacts quickly, having put the number in my phone the moment I'd gotten home after being at the police station. I hit the little dial button on the screen before bringing the phone up to my ear.

I counted three rings before I heard the line pick up, his voice coming from the other end of the call.

"Hello?" He asked, sounding a bit confused. Oh right, he didn't have my number, I haven't even texted him yet.

"Hey, Stiles. It's Julianna." I said, fiddling with the end of the pajama pants I wore.

"Oh, hey!" I smiled at the sudden change of his voice. "I've been wondering if you'd call."

"Sorry, my parents have been pretty overwhelming after what happened." I admitted, watching my toes as I wiggled them in my boredom. "I mean, it's understandable, but it's been like I can't breath some times."

"Oh, well that kind of sucks. So…you're calling for what exactly then?" I smiled at his bluntness.

"Can you come over here?" I asked. "I can text you my address, I just need to talk to a sane person who's not going to ask me how I'm doing ever five minutes."

"I can totally do that!" Stiles said from the other end, and I could just imagine him grinning in excitement, if the tone in his voice is anything to go by. "When do you want me to be over?"

"Whenever works." I told him, stretching my legs out in front of me on the bed.

"Okay, yeah, I'll see you soon." He said, causing me to smile again.

"Okay, see you in a bit." I pulled my phone away from my ear, hanging up my phone.

I swallowed, suddenly feeling really nervous about a guy suddenly coming over. And I was dressed in my pajamas again, my hair hadn't even seen a comb yet today. So, after I texted Stiles the address to my house, I got up from my bed and changed into a pair of boot-cut, faded jeans and long sleeved black and white Batman logo shirt. I was quick to brush my hair and pull it up into a simple pony tail, but it was only after I'd put on a bit of nude lip gloss and light eye liner that I deemed myself acceptable for company.

About five minutes after I'd made myself presentable, there was a knock on my door, followed by my mother's face appearing in the crack as it opened. "Julie, there's a Stiles boy here for you." She said, raising an eyebrow at me. A feeling of dread rose in my gut. Yeah, maybe inviting a boy over was a mistake.

"Okay, let him in?" I asked, tilting my head at her. She pursed her lips before opening the door completely, letting Stiles step into my room. He was wearing another one of his plaid over-shirts, this one a dark blue and maroon. The one currently folded and hidden in my closet was gray and black, my mother had wanted to wash it right away, but I was reluctant too. The smell of curly fries and cologne that was distinctly Stiles had been comforting. He smiled sheepishly when he stepped into my room.

"Hey."

"Hi." I responded, smiling back before looking pointedly at my mother, who still stood by my bedroom door.

She crossed her arms over her chest as she looked between us. "So, did you invite him over or did he come on his own?" She asked.

"I invited him." I said with a sigh. "I was bored."

"Very well, but your door stays open." She said sternly.

"Mom, come on! You seriously think we're going to do anything after what happened?" I asked, blushing darkly.

Her eyes widened as she glanced at Stiles before looking at me again. "He knows?"

"Mom, he's the sheriff's son. He was there when I was brought in." I told her.

"Alright, fine, the door can be closed, but I'm checking up on you later!" She said before walking out of the room, closing the door behind her.

I groaned, looking over at Stiles. He was scratching the back of his neck, his cheeks a bit pink. "Sorry about her." I said. "She got a bit overbearing after what happened."

Stiles looked at me and grinned a bit. "It's alright. She is your mom after all."

I nodded, crossing my legs so I sat Indian style on my bed, one of my pillows in my lap as I watched him. He was looking around my room, taking in the deep purple walls, multitude of posters, and general décor. I caught him smirking at my overly stuffed bookshelf in one corner.

"You really like to read, don't you?" He asked, turning back to me.

I smiled sheepishly and shrugged. "Sometimes the fictional world is easier to take in than the world around you." I commented. "It's a funny world we live in."

He blinked at me, and I wondered for a moment if he caught that little reference. His next words confirmed my suspicions.

"Did you just quote the Joker from _The Dark Knight_?"

"Maybe?" I was hesitant in my answer, but relaxed the moment a large grin appeared on his face.

"I should have been able to tell from the shirt, just didn't take you as a Batman fan." He said.

I shrugged again, smiling softly. "You know you can sit down, right?" I asked, looking at him. Suddenly, Stiles looked a bit nervous again, causing my smile to grow. "You don't find yourself in a girl's room often, do you?"

He shook his head rapidly as he sat on the edge of my bed, fidgeting with his hands a bit. I watched him silently for a moment before he glanced up at me. "So…what do you want to do?" He asked me.

I sighed, looking down at my hands on the pillow in my lap. "No idea, I just needed company that wasn't my mom or dad." I admitted with a shrug of one shoulder.

"Have you even left the house since…the other day?" He asked. I could feel him shifting on the bed, probably getting more comfortable or turning towards me more. I shook my head, not looking up at him. "Do you want to go out and do something?"

"I sort of doubt my mom will let me leave the house." I told him, looking up finally. "Again, she's gotten really overprotective since then. We could watch a movie or something here though."

He nodded, scratching at the back of his neck again. My guess was it was a nervous habit for him. "Yeah, sounds good."

I smiled and slid off my bed, going over to the small tv set up I had in the corner by the door. The tv was large enough to comfortably watch from my bed, even though it was on the other side of the room, but the stand the television rested on had wheels, so I rolled it closer to the bed before I knelt down and started to sift through my movies, knowing exactly what one I wanted to pop into the dvd. The entire time I got the movie set up, I could feel Stiles' eyes on me, but I didn't feel awkward or nervous about it, or about the fact that I was alone in my room with a boy. If anything, Stiles made me feel safe.

_Batman Begins_ was about 140 minutes long, but it took us about twice that amount of time to watch the entire film. We'd watch a scene or two before one of us would grab the remote, pause the movie, and we'd go into a passionate discussion about what had just happened. I was happy to learn that Stiles was as big a fan as Batman as I was. It made things a bit easier than expected.

My mom would pop in every half hour or so to check up on us, make sure we weren't up to something that wasn't rated PG, but each time her head would appear in the door, we were sitting side by side with our backs against the wall on my bed, either in a heated debate or silently watching the film in front of us. About halfway through the film, she brought up a large bowl of chips and a few cans of soda.

"Boys need to eat Julie, and we wouldn't want your friend to starve." She'd commented when I'd given her a questioning look. I had blushed, causing Stiles to laugh and brush it off, shoving a small handful of chips into his mouth in order to get me to laugh. It had worked.

A noticed a few things about Stiles during those five hours he was at my house that day. The first, biggest thing I'd first experienced at the police station the other day. Each time he'd move to touch me, he'd ask if it was alright first. Or he'd apologize if he bumped me accidentally. I could understand that he thought I might be afraid of contact with another male after what happened, but it started to get a little much towards the end.

Finally, we were almost at the end of the movie when our hands touched in the chip bowl as we both reached for some. Stiles had snatched his hand back, apologizing instantly. I sighed, covering his mouth with my hand mid-apology. His eyes widened as he looked down at my hand as best as he could before looking at me.

"Stiles, it's okay. I'm not going to flinch or scream or go into shock because you touch me." I told him. "There's a reason why I called you, someone I barely know, and it's not because you know about what happened. It's because I feel comfortable around you and you do really well at making me think of everything but that."

He nodded slowly, my hand still covering his mouth. He reached up and took it, pulling it away from his face. He didn't let go when he lowered our hands to the bed between us, and it caused a slight fluttering in my stomach. "Okay, sorry, I just…I wasn't sure how you were doing, like…emotionally."

I smiled at him. "And I get that, but you don't have to ask for my permission every time you want to touch me, especially since you've done it a few times already in the past few hours. I'm okay."

Stiles looked at me then, his eyes boring into mine and making me feel like he was looking right into my soul. It sounded cliché, but the way he was staring so intently at me made me feel so exposed. "Are you really though?"

I knew he was talking about what happened, about my recovery. I suppose many described being raped as a traumatic experience, and for me, it had been. For some reason though, having Stiles here had let me not think about any of that.

"No." I admitted, looking down again. His hand still held mine, and he gave it a small squeeze, to let me know he was there. I smiled softly at the gesture before I let out an unsteady breath. "I hate the dark." I told him. "When I try to sleep, I can feel his hands. They say when you cut off one of the five senses, all the others are increased. I can only get an hour or two of sleep at a time before I wake up screaming." Why was it so easy for me to tell him this stuff? My parents only knew about the nightmares because I'd woken them often enough that they were beginning to be worried. But I told them I didn't want to see a therapist. I wasn't a pity case, I could be strong.

And Stiles made me feel strong.

I looked up at him, meeting his worried amber gaze. He glanced away after a second and sighed. From the way he was opening and closing his mouth, I could tell he wanted to say something, he just wasn't sure what.

I reached out with my free hand and gently grabbed his chin, turning his head to look at me again. His mouth snapped close with a soft click of his teeth as his eyes met mine again.

"The night is darkest before the dawn." I said, quoting _The Dark Knight_ again. "And the dawn is coming. I just need time."

Stiles glanced down without moving his head, grinning slightly. I smiled in return, letting go of his chin so I could wipe away a stray tear that had fallen to my cheek.

Movie credits were rolling on the screen when the door to my bedroom opened again, my mother walking in. "Stiles, will you be staying for dinner?" She asked, looking at us.

The young man in question turned his head and then glanced at the alarm clock on the bed-side table next to him. It was almost six o'clock. "I should probably go home. My dad's gonna be home for dinner and if I don't make him something he'll just eat junk food." He explained getting up from the bed.

My mother nodded silently and left the room, leaving it cracked open behind her. I got to my feet as well, smiling at Stiles as I approached him. He smiled back and we walked out of my room together, headed for the front door. My mother watched us as I went outside with him, closing the front door behind me.

Stiles paused to look at me on the front steps, smiling a bit. "That was fun." He admitted, reaching up to scratch the back of his head.

"It was." I smiled. "Thanks for the company, I really needed it."

"No problem." He smiled back, shrugging. "I guess I'll see you about?"

I nodded slowly, my smile dropping slightly, but not entirely. "Yeah, I'd like that."

He nodded as well, walking down the steps. At the bottom he turned towards me again, starting to walk backwards towards his blue jeep parked on the curb. "Maybe we can hang out outside of your house next time?" He asked, grinning at me. "I mean, it's summer, we can do whatever we'd like!"

I laughed softly. "Sounds like a plan. What did you have in mind?"

"Well there's no Batman films at the theater." Stiles said, stumbling a bit when he walked into the half fence that separated my mother's flower garden from the rest of the lawn. He grinned sheepishly, halting on the grass for a moment so he could get his bearings once more. "But maybe we can see what else is playing though. Or maybe find something else to do."

"Another movie sounds nice." I admitted, smiling at him. "How about Friday?"

Stiles had reached his jeep now, and he was grinning at me. "It's a date."

I blinked in surprise at his words, and in that same moment, he flushed.

"No, not a date. Well, it doesn't have to be a date if you don't want it to be." He said, stumbling a bit over his words as he tried to rush them out. "I totally understand if you don't want it to be a date, especially after what happened to you." He continued to ramble as I tried not to break out into a fit of giggles.

"Stiles!" I said, interrupting him. He snapped his mouth shut, looking at me with wide, worried eyes. "It's okay, just text me later with a time for when you're going to pick me up and I'll see you on Friday."

He nodded rapidly, and I wondered if he ever got whiplash from doing that. "Yeah, I'll text you. Tex ting is good, great form of communication."

"Stiles, you're rambling again." I said, the amusement now apparent in my tone as I smiled at him.

He blushed, scratching the back of his head. "Yeah, I am aren't I?" He chuckled nervously.

"I'll see you on Friday Stiles." I said, smiling.

Stiles nodded again. "Yeah, Friday." He said, moving to round his Jeep to the driver's side. "And I'll text you a time."

"Good bye Stiles." I told him, shaking his head as I continued to smile in amusement.

"Bye Julie." He smiled sheepishly before he got into his jeep. Even from my door, I could see him hitting his head against his steering wheel, and I could just imagine him mumbling the word 'stupid' to himself a few times. I giggled once, shaking my head at his behavior before I went back inside, glancing back just as he started to drive off.

Back inside, I made my way to the kitchen where my mother was cooking dinner for the three of us, since dad was meant to be home soon from work. She glanced at me and smiled softly.

"You know Julie, I'm sorry if I embarrassed you earlier, but I must admit: that boy seems to do you a lot of good." She said, stirring something in a large pot as she turned her back to me as I slipped onto a stool at the breakfast bar.

"What do you mean?" I asked, tilting my head to the side a bit as I watched her continue to cook.

"Sweetheart, I haven't seen you smile since I came home the other day." She told me, glancing over her shoulder to look at me. "And I could hear you laughing and talking with him. That boy is special, I have to admit."

I blushed, putting my elbows on the counter top and resting my chin in my hands. "Yeah, he is." I smiled a bit, before something popped up in the forefront of my mind. Oh, that's right. I sighed softly. "But even if I liked him that way, it's impossible."

"Nothing is impossible Julie." My mother told me.

"It is when he's in love with someone." I told her, resting my cheek against my palm.

"And how do you know this exactly?" She'd turned towards me now, crossing her arms over her chest as she raised an eyebrow at me.

"When you observe the people around you as much as I do, you learn things." I told her, knowing that she was aware of one of my favorite pass-times: people watching. "And one things I've noticed about Stiles is he's completely head over heels in love with Lydia Martin, the most popular girl in my grade."

She smiled at me softly, shaking her head as she moved towards the island that I sat at, putting her palms on the counter top and leaning forwards.

"I'm going to tell you a little secret, Julie." She told me. "And you might not be emotionally ready for it after everything that's happened lately, but I think this Stiles boy is special." I nodded slowly, watching her curiously. "Change his mind, _show_ him that you don't have to be popular to be the girl he wants."

I blushed, ducking my head. "I don't even know if _I_ like him that way yet." I admitted softly.

* * *

**Chapter 2, yay! Okay, so for this story, I'm hoping on keeping a bi-weekly upload schedule, posting a new chapter every Tuesday and Saturday. I currently have almost six chapters complete, so if I keep up this writing speed, I should be able to keep this schedule just fine. Things might get a little bit more difficult when I start working on Just Enough Time again, but I'm sure it should be okay for a while.  
**

**If you liked the chapter and are excited for the Tuesday update, feel free to review or send me a PM. I love hearing what you guys think about new chapters, even if it's as simple as 'omg, love it!' :) See you guys Tuesday, where I'll likely gush about the 3B finale in the Author's Note!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Just wanted to give a quick reminder to those that aren't sure of the timeline of the show. According to Teen Wolf producers, season 3 takes place during the autumn of 2011, at least that's what the wiki claims, so I did some research on movies that came out that summer. The official date that this chapter happens on is Friday, June 17, 2011, seeing as that's the actual air date for the film, Green Lantern. If you have any questions about this, feel free to PM me. I'll respond as quick as I can.  
**

* * *

The days leading up to Friday passed by different than they had those first couple days after the incident. I could tell my parents were glad to see me out of my room more often now, often sitting in the living room to watch tv instead of lying in bed. I don't know if my mother told my dad about Stiles coming over, he had yet to say anything about it.

When I bound down the stairs that morning, about an hour before Stiles said he was going to pick me up, I was met by the sight of my father cooking breakfast.

"Hey dad, are you home for the day?" I asked, going to take my usual seat at the breakfast bar to watch him cook.

"I am, did you want to do something today?" He asked, smiling at me over his shoulder.

I blinked, frowning as I sat back in the stool. "I actually made plans with a friend to go see a movie." I said, hoping he didn't notice the blush I felt rise to my cheeks. "I didn't know you were going to be home today."

"Oh that's alright Jewels." He said as he continued to cook, flipping a pancake on the skillet. "You going to get something to eat afterwards?"

"Probably." I shrugged. "We didn't really talk details. I don't even know what movie we're gonna see."

"Well, when will she be here to pick you up?"

I froze, blushing more. "Well, _he_ is going to be here in about an hour." I said, watching him nervously.

I watched as my father's movements faltered before he turned to me. "He?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. "He who?"

"Stiles Stilinski." I answered immediately. "The sheriff's son."

My father nodded slowly, watching me with a curious expression on his face. "So does he know…"

"Yeah, he was in the cruiser with his dad when he got the call. Actually, he was the guy I hugged that day at the station, when you came to bring me home." I told him, slipping my hands under my thighs so I could sit on them, resisting the urge to fiddle.

"This isn't a date is it?" My father asked suddenly, pointing the spatula is me. "I would have thought after what happened, I wouldn't have to worry about boys for a while."

"No, dad, it's not a date!" I told him, blushing more. "Stiles is just being nice enough to keep me distracted from my thoughts and memories. He was over on Tuesday for like five hours. We just watched _Batman Begins_!"

"You had a boy over?" My dad chuckled. "Why did you mother not mention anything?" He asked as he turned back to the pancakes.

"I don't know why she didn't say anything." I told him, shrugging. "I can't read her mind."

He chuckled again, shaking his head. He quickly filled a plate with pancakes and a few slices of bacon before he set it down in front of me. I smiled as I recognized the chocolate chips in the pancakes, and my smile grew when my father set down the peanut butter and syrup down in front of me. He knew me too well. "Eat up." He instructed as he set a butter knife and fork down next to my plate before he turned to serve up his own food.

I'd just started to dig into my food when he sat next to me, reaching around the peanut butter for the syrup. "So, I don't have to worry about this Stiles kid?"

I shook my head, swallowing my mouthful of breakfast goodness. "He's just trying to help. Besides, I'm pretty sure he's in love with someone else."

"Does this girl like him back?" He asked, taking a bite of bacon.

I sighed, shaking my head. "I don't think she even knows he exists, to be honest." I told him, nibbling on my own bacon. "She's extremely popular and even though he's on the lacrosse team, I don't think he ever gets to plays, so she probably thinks he's not even worth her time."

"Ah, young love." My father sighed, and I rolled my eyes. I knew my parents had met in high school years ago, and were juniors when they'd started dating. "Well, still, just because he has his heart set on another girl doesn't mean he might not have eyes for you." He told me, causing my blush to return.

"Dad, there's nothing going on between me and Stiles. He's just a new, really nice friend, who just so happens to be a boy." I told him, pointing a forkful of speared pancake at him. "You wouldn't be silently letting me know you're going to threaten his manhood the moment he shows up if I was dating someone else or if he was a girl."

"I wouldn't have to threaten his manhood if he was a girl." My dad pointed out with a grin, causing me to laugh.

"Just don't try to scare him when he gets here, please?" I asked, begging slightly. "I actually like him, as a _friend_, and I'd rather you not scare him off."

"Understood, but I'm making no promises." He smirked. "I'm just glad to see you willing to get out of the house Jewels. It's not good to hole yourself up in here, especially when you've barely left your room till the other day."

"I know dad, and to be honest, I think Stiles is the main reason why I actually want to get out of here." I told him, poking at my food. "All my other friends don't know what happened, and I don't know if I'm going to tell them, if I even can. At least with him he already knows, and I don't have to act brave or strong around him, I don't have to hide..." I trailed off, frowning at my plate.

There was silence for a few moments between us before I felt my father rest his hand on my shoulder, causing me to look up at him. He was frowning slightly, I knew what happened to me had caused him a lot of grief.

"You are strong Jewels." He said softly, finally, looking me in the eye. "Are you sure you don't want to talk with a therapist? Not even once? Maybe your school counselor, Ms. Morrell?"

I shook my head slowly. "You, mom, and Stiles are the only therapists I need." I told him, giving him a tiny smile. "I'm not going to let anger or fear drive me into hiding when I have people like the three of you to stand by me."

"Well said." My father smiled at me. "Now, finish your breakfast."

By the time the doorbell rang some time later, I was smiling and laughing with my father. Due to his work, we barely got time where it was just the two of us, so it was nice when we got chances like this.

I'd gotten to my feet quickly, ignoring my father's chuckle when I nearly tripped over myself on my way to the door. I shot him a glare though before I went to open the door, smiling at Stiles. He grinned sheepishly back.

"Hey." He said, waving awkwardly.

"Hi." I smiled. "Come in, I need to go grab my purse." I said, grabbing him by his wrist and pulling him into the house. I stopped at the entryway into the living room, where my father was still sitting on the couch. He didn't seem like much of a giant when he was seated, which I knew would be less intimidating for Stiles. "Stiles, this is my dad. Dad, this is Stiles. Be nice." I warned my father before leaving Stiles standing there as I raced up to my room.

When I'd grabbed my purse, shoved in the bare essentials I would need, I headed back downstairs, pausing at the bottom step when I heard my father and Stiles talking in the living room.

"I just want to make sure my daughter is safe. You'll understand one day, when you have a little girl of your own, that when something like what happened to my Jewels happens, you don't really want to let her out of your sight." My father was saying. "Yes, you may be the sheriff's son, and I have a lot of respect for your father and what he's doing to try to find the man that raped Jewels, but I don't know you Stiles. Can I trust my daughter's safety with you?"

"Dr. Carlson, I swear, I'm going to do everything I can to make sure Julie's safe. It's unfair, what happened." My stomach fluttered at Stiles words, heat rising to my cheeks as I sucked my bottom lip in between my teeth, biting it gently. "I can't swear I'll always be able to protect her when she's with me, but I can promise you that I'll stand in the way of anyone that means her harm."

"That's all I can ask for Stiles. Jewels is my everything, and I'm happy that with you, she can be her old self again." I heard my father sigh. "Now you should probably head back out into the hall. I'm sure she'll be down in a moment."

At the sound of someone moving towards me, I turned and walked up a few steps, hidden behind a wall from the entry way into the living room. I waited a moment before going back down, smiling at the sight of Stiles waiting by the front door for me. When I reached him, waving at my dad as I passed by the living room, I looked up at him and grinned.

"So, what are we going to go see?" I asked, opening the door and following Stiles outside.

"Well I wasn't really sure what movies you're into, besides Batman, but if you want to stick to superheroes we have two options." He said, walking beside me to his jeep. "_X-Men: First Class_ is still playing, but then _Green Lantern_ just came out today."

I nodded, ducking my head and smiling when Stiles opened the passenger door of the jeep for me. "Either works, what were you hoping to see?" I asked as I eased into the vehicle.

"Well I myself have already seen _First Class_, so would _Green Lantern_ be okay?" He asked, still holding the door open. When I nodded he smiled, closing my door before racing around to the other side of the jeep and hoping into the driver's side.

We talked about our favorite Batman films on the way to the theater, which had me smiling the whole way there. Even while driving, Stiles was used his hands to add emphasis on what he was talking about, waving them about as he spoke animatedly about Tim Burton's version of Batman.

Unlike what we did in my room during _Batman Begins_, we barely spoke during the movie. I hadn't followed the Green Lantern series of comics when I was younger and my older brother had influenced most of my interests when I was still quite young, turning me into the quiet tom-boy I was today.

"I have to admit, I wasn't too sure about them staring Ryan Reynolds as Hal Jordan, but I think he did the job pretty well." Stiles said was we walked out of the theater.

"It doesn't really stand a chance against the new _X-Men_ movie or _Thor_ in terms of quality," I told him as we headed towards the jeep "but it was good, I definitely liked it."

Stiles nodded in agreement as we reached the jeep, digging into his pocket for the keys when we both heard someone call his name. Looking towards the source of the voice, I saw a boy I recognized from school and as being Stiles' best friend, Scott McCall.

"Scott, hey, what are you doing here?" Stiles said, gesturing to their surroundings as he turned to greet his friend.

Scott came to a halt in front of us, glancing between us before looking at Stiles with wide eyes. "Dude, are you on a date?" He hissed, complete surprise in his tone.

I blushed instantly, eyes wide with shock.

"No, dude, not a date." Stiles sighed. "Julie is just a friend. We just got done seeing _Green Lantern_."

"Oh." Scott blinked at him before looking at me and smiling sheepishly. "Hi, sorry about that."

"It's okay." I smiled sheepishly, my hands fidgeting as I held them behind my back. "Nice to see you?"

"Yeah!" Scott smiled before his face took on a more serious expression. "Stiles, can we talk for a second?"

Stiles looked between me and Scott before nodding, handing me the keys to the jeep. "Give me a second?"

"Sure." I said, taking the keys from him and turning to the jeep. I unlocked the vehicle before getting in, climbing over to the passenger seat.

Scott and Stiles didn't move far away from the car, but it looked like either way they were talking in hushed, rapid whispers. Both of their expressions seemed worried and concerned to me as I watched them. Finally Stiles shook his head, saying something as he gestured towards the jeep and myself. Scott glanced in my direction before looking at Stiles again and nodding before he walked away.

Stiles sighed and turned towards the jeep again, putting a smile on his face when he saw me watching. I smiled back, handing him the keys after he slid into the driver seat.

"Everything okay?" I asked when he'd taken the keys and started the vehicle.

"Kinda." He sighed as he pulled out onto the street.

"'Kinda'?" I asked, raising an eyebrow as I looked at him. "You can tell me you know."

He glanced at me before looking back at the road. "You know about Erica Reyes and Vernon Boyd?"

"Those two kids who went missing?" I asked, tilting my head a bit.

"Yeah. Scott knows a good friend of theirs that's kind of running his own search party ordeal." Stiles explained. "He wanted to know if I was going to join them today."

I blinked in slight surprise. "Oh." I stated, leaning back in my seat. After a moment I looked at him. "You know, we could have gone."

Stiles shook his head, sighing. "No, I kind of promised your dad I'd keep an eye on you, and I don't know how well I can do that if we're wandering through the woods or something. Plus, I don't know if you'd really like Derek that much. He's a bit creepy and after…everything, I think it might be best if you not meet him just yet. Or ever. Have I mentioned I don't like him?"

I chuckled softly, but rolled my eyes. "You don't need to protect me Stiles." I said.

We'd come to a stop sign, and there must not have been a car behind us, because Stiles put the jeep into park and turned to me. "I want to though." He said, frowning slightly. "After what happened to you, you deserve to be kept safe."

I looked at him for the longest moment, blinking occasionally. Finally I felt my cheeks heat up and I ducked my head. "That's sweet Stiles, but I'm okay." I looked up slightly, meeting his worried gaze. "Thank you, but it's fine."

"No, it isn't." He sighed, shifting the jeep back into drive as he started driving again. "You were attacked by a stranger, taken from you own house. I-I don't want to think about what might happen if I take you out to the woods and that creep snatches you again when my back is turned."

I blushed at his words, wrapping my arms around my stomach as I looked out the window. There was a warmth in my gut at his words, at how genuine he sounded. Neither of us spoke for the rest of the car ride towards my home, but each time I glanced over at Stiles, I saw his face still frozen in an expression of worry and determination.

When we pulled up in front of my house, Stiles didn't say anything as he moved quickly to get to my door before I had my seat-belt fully off. I blinked at him, as he offered me a hand, and smiled as I took it, accepting his help out of his car. He walked me to the door, where we stopped, turning to one another.

I looked up at him and smiled softly. "Thanks, it was a lot of fun."

He smiled back, reaching up to scratch the side of his head. "Yeah, it was pretty fun." He gulped, appearing nervous. "Listen, sorry if what I said made you feel uncomfortable. I just get really angry when I think about the fact that that guy is still out there."

I blushed, ducking my head a bit. When I looked back up, Stiles was looking away from me, frowning slightly. I smiled slightly at the sight and took a step forward, standing on my tip toes to kiss his cheek.

When I pulled back, his eyes were wide, mouth hanging open in shock. He looked at me owlishly for a few moments before he blushed softly. "W-What was that for?"

"It's a 'thank you about being so worried about a total stranger when you don't have to be'."

He frowned at me. "You're not a total stranger, at least, you aren't anymore." He said, hands gesturing to me. "And hey, we should hang out again next week."

"I like the sound of that. This time, though, I'll come up with what we do, okay?" I asked, smiling. He nodded in response, saying a quick 'see ya' before he turned towards the jeep. When he was about half way there, I turned back to him. "Hey Stiles!" He stopped, turning back at me with a questioning look on his face. "If I do need someone to be my Batman, I'll call you, okay?"

He blinked before grinning widely and nodded. "Sounds like a plan!" He called back, lifting a hand to wave at me.

I waved back, smiling at him before I turned back to the door and walked inside. As I made my way to the stairs to head up to my room, I stopped in the kitchen, spotting my dad sitting with his laptop at the breakfast bar. He glanced up and smiled, an almost mischievous look in his eyes.

"So, how was your date?"

I groaned, grabbing a tube of lip gloss from my purse and tossing it at his head, missing said head, and earning a chuckle.

"Not a date!" I told him before going up the stairs, taking them two at a time.

* * *

**Before I go to rant a touch about the 3B finale, I just wanted to thank aliciasellers75 for reminding me that I forgot to put a face-claim on Julie's character. I also have her parents and another member of her family who I'll be introducing between chapters 8 and 10. Julie would be played by India Eisley, her father, Dr. Carlson, by Joel McHale, Mrs. Carlson by Salma Hayek (I might change this one), and finally, Julie's maternal grandmother by Judi Dench. When it came to choosing an actor to play Julie's dad, I had a lot of issues because I wanted to find an actor that was at least six feet tall and blonde. Not many out there, most of the taller actors in Hollywood have darker hair, so I had to compromise a little. Oh, and there is actually one more character that probably won't be officially released for a while, but at the moment I'm torn between four people to play them.  
**

**Now, onto the finale of season 3B! Warning, spoilers ahead, so read at your own risk!  
**

**I have very conflicting feelings for how they ended the season. On one hand, I know exactly how I am going to end Just Enough Time, but on the other, they killed two people! I did cry when they killed Allison, but when they did it to Aiden too, I was pissed! I was just starting to warm up to the guy! Yes, he was not on my top ten list of the characters on the show (he probably is at about Number 13 or 14 on my list. Stiles and Derek are tied for #1...I need to write a Derek fic). And Danny knowing about werewolves?! HOW FREAKING LONG HAS HE KNOWN?! I'm definetely using that in JET for some Danny-Lani bonding time because I did make them cousins and they've had a total of one moment in like chapter three. I can't be for certain, but I think that JET is going to be ending around 20 or so chapters. I have planned out in my mind the rest of the story, I just need to get it down. Oh, and what the hell is Kate? It's clear she's no were-wolf, probably some sort of were-cat I think, but AGH, the questions! At least we only have to wait three months, right? It did say June 23, didn't it? I can't remember now, will have to go back and look. I'm sure it's up on the wiki by now, those people work quick!**

**If you liked the chapter and are excited for Saturday's update, leave a review or send me a PM with your thoughts! Next chapter Julie gets time with our two favorite TW high schoolers, and what they do may remind you of a very awkward date Scott once had, hehe :) Unfortunately he doesn't have Allison around this time to help him with advice. Oh, and if you want to talk about the finale or season 3B altogether, PM me! I'd love to go into a heated discussion with you about the events of the season, any theories you/I have, etc. Oh, and if you watched Wolf Watch after, are you as excited as I am about the fact that they're helping that kid make a Teen Wolf video game?! The gamer in my is so happy right now.**

**Anyways, longest Author's Note I've ever written ends here, I'll stop my gushing. See you Saturday!  
**


	4. Chapter 4

Stiles didn't even text me until that next Wednesday. I would be lying if I said I hadn't missed him at all during the near week that we hadn't talked to one another.

_**Sorry about ignoring all your texts. Been busy helping Scott with the whole Derek thing. –Stiles**_

_**I hope everything is okay. How's the search?**_

_**Could be better. We haven't found even a clue, but Derek doesn't want to give up.**_

_**If my friend went missing, I wouldn't give up either.**_

_**So if I just disappear one day, you'd search for me?**_

_**Of course.**_

I hadn't even hesitated, blushing moments after I pressed the send button. When he didn't respond after a few minutes, taking longer that he had earlier in the conversation, worry gripped my gut. Had I said the wrong thing?

_**Good. I'd look for you too :)**_

I smiled at the text when I opened it, letting out a relieved sigh.

_**Hey, do you want to go bowling tomorrow?**_ I typed into my phone, hesitating before I added. _**You could tell Scott to come too.**_

_**Are you sure? I mean, two guys and just you, wouldn't you get a little overwhelmed?**_

I was afraid to tell him that as long he was there, I'd be fine. That's how it seemed to be working, and I hadn't been lying to my father. Stiles made me feel safe.

_**It's okay. I mean, it's just you and Scott. I know you're both good people.**_

_**Alright, I'll text him and see if he's okay with it. If he mentions his ex, Allison, though, feel free to kick him. He won't stop when he starts.**_

I laughed softly, responding with a confirmation and a reminder that he'll have to pick me up, since I had no car.

* * *

The next day, I was sitting on my front step when Stiles pulled up. I smiled and stood, racing to the jeep before he could even get out.

"Impatient, aren't we?" He asked, grinning a bit as he shifted the vehicle back into drive, headed towards the bowling alley.

"It's more like mom is freaking out that this is the second time I'm leaving the house and the first time she didn't know until that night." I said with a sigh. "She's probably going to call me like three times at least to make sure I'm alive."

Stiles grinned a bit, shaking his head. "Do you and your mom get along?" He asked hesitantly.

"Yeah, she's just being really overprotective and it's getting a bit suffocating." I shrugged, pulling my feet up to wrap my arms around my legs, only for Stiles to slap my leg.

"No feet on the seat!" He groaned, causing me to laugh and plant my feet back down.

"Alright, geez!" I giggled softly. "So, we meeting Scott there?"

"Yeah. Are you sure it's okay?" He glanced at me, raising an eyebrow.

"Stiles, I'm going to be okay." I told him, smiling. "You'll be there."

He blushed slightly, grinning like a fool. "Yeah, I'll be your Batman."

"Of course." I giggled slightly at his look of pride my words seemed to cause. Minutes later we pulled into the parking lot of the bowling alley, and I beat Stiles to opening my door of the jeep. I grinned when he pouted a bit. "I do love a gentleman Stiles, but I can't function by myself."

He blushed, slightly, reaching up to scratch his cheek. "Yeah, I know."

I shook my head, smiling softly, before taking his hand and pulling him towards the entrance to the bowling alley, unable to see the look of shock on his face as he looked down at our joined hands.

Scott was already there, sitting at a table near the entrance. He grinned when he saw us, waving us over. "Hey Stiles. And Julie, right?" He asked, looking at me.

I nodded, giving him a small smile. "Yeah. Hi Scott." I responded.

"Okay, I'm buying. Julie, what size are you?" Stiles asked, turning to me.

"Size six, but I can get my own shoes Stiles." I told him.

"No need, I got it." He waved me off, walking to the counter.

"Then you better get me some nachos!" I called after him, crossing my arms over my chest. A soft chuckle to my left caused me to turn. "Something to say McCall?"

Scott chuckled again, shaking his head at me. "Are you sure you two aren't dating?" He asked.

I blushed at his question, thankful in that moment for the dim lighting of the bowling alley. "We aren't together. Stiles is just…helping me through something."

Scott blinked at that. "Are you okay?"

I blinked back and nodded. "Well yeah, I just…it's hard to talk about it." I admitted, looking away.

"Well, you don't have to tell me about it." Scott said, smiling softly at me. "Not if you don't want to."

I looked back at him, raising an eyebrow. "Stiles hasn't told you?"

He blinked, frowning slightly. "No, when I asked he said it wasn't his news to tell." He explained and shrugged. "Just, know that you can tell me when you're ready."

I smiled softly and nodded. "Okay, thanks for the patience." I said, looking up when Stiles approached us again. I smiled at the shoes he handed me. "They have these here? Seriously?"

Stiles grinned in triumph as I held up the bowling shoes that had the Batman logo on the toes. "I know someone who works here that told me about them." He admitted. "You're lucky they're in your size!"

I laughed, sitting at the table to change my shoes. "You're the best Stiles."

"You like Batman?" Scott asked, raising his eyebrow at me as he changed into the shoes that Stiles had handed him.

"Scott, she quotes Batman!" Stiles said, grinning as he sat on the floor in front of us to put on his own pair of borrowed bowling shoes, causing me to laugh.

* * *

"So, how you doing?" Stiles asked as he sat down next to me while we waited for Scott to choose his ball.

I looked at him, raising an eyebrow at him. "Good, why?"

"Just…if you start to feel overwhelmed, let me know, okay?" He asked, looking down at his hands, his elbows rested on his knees. "We'll run out as quick as we can if you want."

I smiled widely, ducking my head a bit. "Thanks Stiles, but I'm sure it'll be fine. Thank you for being so concerned though."

"Don't mention it." He said, looking up and smiling at me.

"Am I interrupting something?"

We both looked up to see Scott standing in front of us. I smiled and shook my head. "Nah, the moment's already gone. Ready?"

He nodded, holding up the bowling ball he'd selected. "Ready." He grinned.

"Want me to turn on the bumpers for you?" Stiles asked, grinning at his best friend.

Scott shot Stiles a glare, causing the taller teen to chuckle as he turned to me. "Well, ladies first."

I rolled my eyes, shoving his shoulder as I got up. He laughed, moving over to the seat at the little computer for our lane. Stiles had already entered our names, though Scott had yet to notice that Stiles had put each of us in as character from the Batman series. Stiles was Bruce, Scott was Alfred, and I was Lorna. I wondered what made him choose her out of all of Batman's love interests from the comics. Or a love interest of Batman's at all.

A few rounds later, Stiles was just trailing ahead of me but about ten points while Scott was struggling to keep up. I sat down next to Stiles at the screen, looking at our scores.

"So, why'd you choose Lorna for me?" I asked, looking at him as Scott concentrated on getting trying to get a split.

"Oh, well she was a museum curator, and you said you really like to read and stuff so I thought she was the best option." He shrugged.

"Please, if I have to be a female has any connection to the Batman comic series, it'll have to be Dinah Lance." I said, smirking at him.

Stiles raised an eyebrow at me, grinning a bit. "You want to be Black Canary?"

"Why not? She kicks ass, is gorgeous, and one of my favorite female heroes from DC comics." I shrugged, smiling as I looked back at Scott. "Just aim for one of them Scott, not even many pros can get both pins in your situation!" I called, causing the other teenage boy to turn around and scowl in playful annoyance at me, but he did as I instructed while Stiles changed my name on the scoreboard. "Now, I'm going to get those nachos, you two want anything?" I asked as I stood. "Maybe some coke?"

"Sound good." Scott said, sitting down in my now vacated seat. "Hey, why am I Alfred?"

"Because this time, you get to be the sidekick." Stiles answered before looking at me. "Coke is good, are you going to share those nachos?"

"Only if I get two orders of them." I said, grinning as I pulled my wallet out of my bag and headed towards the counter.

While I was gone, Stiles watched me for a moment before he stood to take his turn. Scott glanced in my direction before looking over at Stiles with a grin on his face.

"So, when's the last time you thought about Lydia?" He asked Stiles.

The other boy looked at him, blinking rapidly. "Why do you ask?"

"Because you keep giving Julie this look that you used to give Lydia, back in the sixth grade or so." Scott explained. "Plus, I'm pretty sure you two have been flirting half the time we've been here."

Stiles scowled as he picked up his ball. "No flirting is going on Scott, we're just two friends of the opposite gender talking." Stiles told him, pausing as he concentrated on the pins at the other end of the lane. He sent his ball rolling towards them swiftly, pursing his lips when all but one fell. "Besides, I know for a fact she's not looking for a boyfriend so there's no point. I've been friend-zoned for life when it comes to Julianna Carlson." He added as he turned back to Scott.

"Why do you say that?" Scott asked, his eyebrows drawing together slightly.

"Because she's been through a lot of crap that I'm not allowed to tell you because it's her life, not mine, and I only know about it by accident. She says I'm a distraction from her bad memories and what not, but after what happened, I know she doesn't want a relationship." Stiles sighed, waiting for his ball to be sent back up to him. "I've only known her a couple weeks, but I already know I like her, but she has scars I can't heal. I don't know if anyone will be able to heal them."

Scott continued to look confused, but before he could say anything, Stiles' ball had appeared once more, as had I. I set down three orders of nachos on the little table for our lane, an employee of the bowling alley setting down a pitcher of coke and ice as well as three disposable cups. I thanked the man before looking at the guys.

"Food and drink is here." I said, filling up all three of the glasses, leaving the pitcher half full. While Stiles rolled his ball down the lane again, effectively knocking down the last pin with ease, Scott got up and moved to the table, pulling one of the nacho orders towards him and grabbing a cup.

"Thanks Julie." He said with a grin as he dipped a chip in the orange concoction they passed off as melted cheese.

"No problem Scottie." I said, patting his head as I made my way over to take my turn.

* * *

We played a total of two games, filled our stomachs on nachos and coke, before we finally decided to call it a day. I awkwardly refused a hug from Scott when we said goodbye, blushing darkly as he looked at me with eyes filled with hurt and confusion. Stiles had been quick to distract us both, knowing why I had shied away. Even though Scott and I had bonded considerably during the past couple hours, a large part of me, the scared, damaged part left behind after the incident, was afraid of his touch.

Stiles drove me home, talking the entire way in order to keep my mind off things. My mother offered him to stay over for dinner again, but once more he refused with the same excuse of cooking for his dad before he bid me ado, saying he'd see me soon. We'd already made plans to hang out again in a couple days.

The rest of the evening passed by slowly. Dad got home from work in time for dinner, mom went to bed earlier because she had a morning conference call for work and had to be out of the house by five, and I retired to my room after dinner only for my dad to appear in my door with two bowls of brownie fudge ice cream. We talked for a while before he had to go to bed, he had a fairly early morning tomorrow as well. I tried to read, but the overall lack of sleep from the past few weeks caught up to me and I was asleep by 10:30.

That night, the nightmares got worse.

Before, they'd always been the same. I was running through dark woods, the voice of the man who'd raped me close behind, calling for me, making crude promises of taking me away again. Lately, in these dreams, I'd been calling out for my mother or father. On that night though, my nightmares included Stiles.

I had been running away from the voice again, running through the trees with fear as my only fuel now. But instead of endless woods, the trees suddenly opened up, and I found myself just outside of an old, burnt down home. Something told me I should know this house, at least know of it, but then came that voice again, and I ran inside.

When I burst through the doors, I skidded to a halt, eyes wide as they landed on him. Stiles. He stood at the bottom of a large staircase in front of me. His back was too me, but when I'd ran into the remains of the once large home, he started to turn towards me slowly. Those amber eyes were filled with fear and worry. His mouth opened, his lips moved, but no sound reached my ears. It looked like he was shouting something, but all I could hear was the man's voice behind me. It was growing louder.

Suddenly, Stiles' eyes widened and he looked away from me, his eyes going down to his stomach. My gaze followed, and when I saw what he was looking at, I wish I hadn't looked. An arrow stuck out of his gut, looking like it had gone deep enough to pierce through his entire body.

Stiles looked up slowly, the color in his eyes fading slowly as his mouth moved again. The stranger's voice came from his lips this time, saying my name.

I woke screaming, fighting against my sheets. Almost instantly though, I was able to take in my surroundings. My breath came in labored pants as I scrambled to free my limbs, crawling across my mattress to the bed-side table that held my alarm clock and where my phone was plugged in.

I was surprised neither of my parents had burst into my room yet, I was sure I'd been screaming bloody murder just now, but I ignored it as I went through my contacts swiftly, calling the number I had been searching for.

I had to call him three times before he picked up, sounding disoriented and half asleep.

"Hello?"

"Stiles." I hated how weak I sounded, even with my quiet sobs.

Suddenly, Stiles sounded very much awake. "Julie?! Are you okay, what happened?!"

"I-I'm fine." I said, the lingering sensation of fear slowly ebbing away at the sound of his voice. "Just a n-nightmare." I explained, hiccuping softly. "Y-you were in it, you died."

"It's okay Julie, I'm fine, no wounds or blood or feelings of terminal illness." He said, speaking rapidly. "Stiles good, Stiles safe."

I nodded, even though I knew he wasn't able to see me. "I-I just needed to hear your voice." I told him, wiping tears from my cheeks.

"Okay, yeah, no problem. Do you want me to just keep talking? Because I can totally do that if you want."

"Could you?" I asked, sniffing as I lay back down in my bed, keeping my phone to my ear.

"Yeah, of course I can." He said, and he did, he talked about whatever seemed to come to his mind, no matter how random it was.

The next morning, I woke up six hours later with a dead cellphone on my pillow and feeling more rested than I had since the day I was raped.

* * *

**Sorry about uploading so late today, work this week has been stupidly busy. All but one local school had spring break this week and there's something about teenagers and coffee these days. Worked a twelve hour (7 to 7) shift today, and this chapter hadn't been looked over yet.**** Hopefully now that spring breaks are over (except that one), things will be slower enough that I can actually write something this week. Which means that I might have to delay Just Enough Time again, but hopefully not by much.  
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**If this story seems pretty slow for you guys, things start to pick up after chapter 6. It's important that the relationship between Julie and Stiles builds up a bit before I throw stuff at you, because trust me, there's a lot of stuff that I'm going to be adding to the entirty of season 3 of Teen Wolf. Unfortunately, I have to change some things about certain myths and such. I give the tinniest little hint of what's to come in chapter 6, but I doubt anyone will realize it until I give you more info.  
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**Enjoy! And don't forget to review :) PS: I know Black Canary is a character from the Arrow comic series, but according to the DC comics wiki, she does appear in a small series of Batman comics. I watch the show Arrow and love Canary's character, and I'm sad her name is Sara in the show instead of Dinah. I like Dinah better.**


	5. Chapter 5

**PLEASE READ THIS - So, now that season 3 has ended and I know how I'm going to end Just Enough Time, my other StilesxOC story, I've decided that Waiting for Batman will be uploaded on Saturdays only, instead of twice a week. This will start next week, and chapter 10 of JET will be uploaded this evening. I'm doing this because I thought that I'd be able to push three chapters of two different stories out a week, but with how busy my life outside of FanFiction has gotten over the past two weeks, I don't know if I'll be able to do it. So, my upload schedule for new chapters will be JET taking over the Tuesday uploads and WFB will become Saturdays only. Thank you for understanding, I really wish I could do a Monday-Wednesday-Friday upload for you guys, which is what I had in hopes for when I started JET again, but the rest of my life has just gotten too busy. Hopefully if things settle down, I'll be able to increase how many chapters I post per week, but I don't think I'll be able to do that any time soon.**

**As another note, and you'll see this in the new JET chapter as well, I'm taking down the link on my profile for voting for a new story for me to start on once I'm done with JET. The reason I'm doing this is because the most popular story is Just Let Me Burn, which could turn into another Stiles/OC story. I have no problem with this, but I'd put up that strawpoll before I got the idea for Waiting for Batman, and I hadn't expected to be running two different Stiles/OC stories at once. I have an idea for a Derek/OC story to take place in season 2, possibly, but I'm still working on details. In fact, as it's sitting right now, it might be a Derek/OC story or an Isaac/OC one. In a way, it'll be a Teen Wolf/Supernatural story, but none of the Supernatural characters will make apperances, I'll just be using some of the ideas from the TV series in that story. Again, the idea of it is still a work in progress.**

**Thank you again for your patience and understanding with all of this. I really love getting responses from you guys, so don't forget to leave a review, or even PM me if you have questions or anything. I won't bite, I swear! Anyways, enjoy Double-Upload-Tuesday, and I promise, this is no April Fool's Joke! It just happened to land on my upload day :) If I was to upload an April Fool's Day chapter for you, it would be chapter 6! ;)**

* * *

Time slowly trickled by as June turned into July, the heat increasing with each passing day. I found that the majority of my days were spent with Scott and Stiles. They taught me the basics of lacrosse, not that I was very good. My stamina when it came to sports was greatly lacking, but at least now I understood the game.

Currently, I sat in the lawn chair I'd brought with me when Stiles had picked me up for the midnight premier of _Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II_. I'd followed the series since the first book came out and it had taken me a while to convince the guys to join me for the midnight showing, since my parents both had work and couldn't afford to go to a movie at midnight on a Thursday evening. My legs were stretched out in front of me as I wrapped the borrowed gray sweatshirt from the backseat of Stiles' jeep around myself.

"Why did it have to get so cold?!" I grumbled, pouting. "It's summer!"

Stiles chuckled, standing next to me in my seat as we waited in the long line for the doors to open. We still had half an hour until the movie started to play, meaning that there was about ten or so minutes until they opened the doors to let people in.

"It still gets colder when the sun sets Julie, and it's not that bad." Stiles said, grinning down at me. I sent him a soft glare before my eyes landed on Scott.

Stiles had warned me that he had found something that Allison must have left in his room, bringing up those buried feelings from right after their break-up, making them fresh and new all over again. He was leaning against the wall of the theater, completely unresponsive to the chit-chat around him as he glowered at nothing.

A part of me didn't fully believe Stiles' excuse for Scott's attitude. I knew there was something they didn't want to tell me, and somehow it involved this Derek guy Scott knew and the disappearance of 'Derek's' friends, Erica and Boyd. Anytime I would mention either of their names, Scott and Stiles would tense for a moment, exchange a glance, and tell me the same thing every time: "There's still no sign of them." I didn't really want to be so suspicious about them, I'd quickly come to accept them as possibly being my best friends, but there was a something they weren't telling me, and I wanted to find out. I knew that if I asked about it, I'd only get lies in return, so I'd come up with a plan, I just needed more information before I could put that plan into motion. I had to find out who exactly this Derek person was, find him, and ask him what was going on.

"Hey Scott," I started, ignoring Stiles' earlier warning about giving Scott some space tonight, "you excited to see the movie?"

My eyes were trained on the brooding teen, so I missed the frantic, worried expression that crossed Stiles' features. Scott glanced at me and sighed, looking back across the street. "Whatever." He grumbled, causing me to frown.

"You didn't have to come you know, you could have stayed home, I understand." I told him.

"No, actually you don't." He nearly snapped, causing me to tense.

I frowned a few moments later, slapping away Stiles' hand as he tried to keep me in my seat as I stood, turning to Scott. "Okay, yeah, maybe I don't, but you don't have to be a prick about it." I told him, crossing my arms over my chest. "I'm trying to be your friend here Scott."

He snorted, his dark eyes turning to me again. "Please, the only reason you put up with me is so you can spend more time with Stiles."

My jaw dropped slightly in shock at his words. "Seriously Scott? What the hell?" I asked, stepping back slightly. "Yeah, I have fun with Stiles, he's my friend, but you're not just a piece of baggage, you're my friend too." He scoffed again, looking away from me once more. I clenched my teeth together in frustration, not understanding what this side of him was suddenly caused by. "Was you break up seriously that bad?" I asked, hearing the genuine concern in my own voice. "Scott, I understand that you loved Allison, but if she was so willing to dump a guy as sweet as you like that, then you deserve better."

"Don't talk about it like you know!" Scott snapped, suddenly standing right in front of me. There was something about how he came at me, anger, frustration, and pain that caused fear to shoot through my entire system. I must have imagined the shift of color in his eyes, eyes that held seemed to soak in my fear with pleasure as he snarled.

Suddenly, Stiles was between us, pushing Scott back as he told his best friend that he needed to calm down. Behind the taller teen, I was shaking slightly, trying to keep my breathing calm. I closed my eyes tight, letting out a shaking breath. When I opened them again, Stiles was just turning to me, concern in his amber eyes. But I turned away from his gaze, moving swiftly to gather my things.

"Julie."

"Don't Stiles, I don't feel like watching a movie tonight anymore." I said as I slid the strap of my messenger bag over my shoulder, the now folded lawn chair tucked under my arm before I turned and walked away, ignoring Stiles calling after me and the prick of tears in my eyes.

"Goddammit Scott," I head behind me as I walked away, "you can walk home." The words were soon followed by hurried steps growing louder behind me, but I didn't stop as Stiles came up to my side, easing the lawn chair out of my grip.

"Don't apologize for him." I said instantly, not looking at him as I kept my eyes trained ahead.

"I won't." Stiles sighed, and I could imagine him running his fingers through his hair, now that he'd started to grow it out a bit after I had insisted he at least try it. "I am sorry that I didn't just tell him to stay home when I found out he was in such a mood though. You're going to miss your movie."

I smiled softly, despite the fact that I could still feel my fingers shaking slightly as one hand clutched tightly at the strap of my messenger bag. "It's okay." I said, finally turning my head to look at him. "You can take me tomorrow, during the daylight, to make it up to me."

Stiles grinned widely. "Deal." He said, looking me in the eye as we approached his jeep. He paused, seeing that my eyes were still brimming with unshed tears. "Hey, are you sure you're okay?"

I blinked a couple times before ducking my head, shaking it slightly. "I just…wasn't really expecting that. And when he moved towards me so suddenly, I just flashed back to…that night."

I heard Stiles gulp nervously before he was setting the lawn chair down, leaning it against the bumper of the jeep, when suddenly he was pulling me into a hug. I froze, his arms wrapped around my shoulders as he tucked my head under his chin, but soon relaxed into his embrace, closing my eyes.

I pulled away after a minute, wiping at my now damp cheeks. "Can you just take me home?" I asked. "I'm exhausted suddenly."

"No problem." He said, smiling at me in a way that I could only call reassuring. I smiled back and moved around the jeep to climb into the passenger seat as he put the fold-able chair into the back.

As he drove towards my house, my eyes trained on the outside world, I thought about whatever came to my mind first.

"Hey Stiles?" I asked as we were about half way to my house from the movie theater.

"Hmm?" He asked, glancing over in my direction before he trained his eyes back on the road ahead, slowing down for a stop sign.

"What aren't you and Scott telling me?" I asked, turning towards him.

His eyes widened to a nearly comical size as he pressed his foot hard on the brake, jolting the vehicle slightly. He turned to look at me, a worried expression on his face, only confirming my theory that they were keeping something from me.

"What are you talking about?!" He asked.

"That, right there." I said, point at him. "You two are keeping something from me, I can feel it!" I told him.

Stiles frowned deeply, his grip on the steering wheel tightening for a moment before he went through the intersection only to park the jeep on the side of the road ahead. When the vehicle was no longer moving once again, he turned to me.

"Julie, listen, I don't know why you think we're keepi-"

"No bullshit Stiles, I'm not an idiot!" I hissed, frowning at him as I felt that familiar prick in my eyes again, only this time they were tears of frustration instead of fear. "Any time I mention Derek or Erica or Boyd, you two tense up and brush it off like it's nothing. But I know it isn't. Something is going on and you two are involved somehow and I want to know what!"

He stared at me after that for a few long, silent moments, his eyes still wide with shock. Slowly, he was able to recover, a small frown appearing on his lips. "It's not safe Julie." He said, meeting my hardened gaze. "I can't let you get hurt again, just let me do this, let me be your Batman right now and keep you away from it."

"I don't need a Batman right now Stiles!" I told him, hating how my voice had taken on a desperate tone. "I need the truth. And if it's dangerous, don't you think that just makes me more worried about you and Scott? Despite what he seems to think, both of you are my friends and I don't think I'll be able to handle it if one of you gets hurt!"

Stiles' soft brown eyes held so much confliction as he looked at me, frowning thinly, that a part of me wanted to back down, to not cause him this pain. But I couldn't back away now, not now that we were finally talking about this. It hadn't been my plan to ask him, but now that he had actually confirmed they were keeping something from me, I knew I couldn't let it go, not completely.

"I wish I could tell you Julie, I really wish I could, but it's not really my secret to tell. It's more Scott's than anything." He said finally. "I want to be able to talk to you about all of this, but I know that if you knew the truth, you'd be in more danger than you are because there's some creep out there who assaulted you still running free. So please, just trust me this once and drop it, for now."

I swallowed, holding his desperate gaze with a determined one of my own. "I'm going to find out Stiles, you know I will."

"I know." He said, closing his eyes. "I know, I do, just…please, not now. Not today or tomorrow or next week, just….just wait, for me, please." His sorrow filled eyes returned to me again when he finished talking, causing my breath to catch in my throat. So instead of answering him with words, I nodded slowly. He nodded once, sharply, before he turned forward again and started driving towards my house once more.

We exchanged quick good-byes after he'd pulled into my driveway, though he got out to help me get my lawn chair from the back of the jeep. I shrugged off his sweatshirt, handing it to him before I turned to walk towards my front door.

"Julie."

I turned back, blinking at him. "Yeah?"

"What time am I picking you up for the movie tomorrow?" He asked, smiling nervously.

I smiled back at him. "I'll text you in a bit, I have to see what times it's playing at. I didn't look when we were in line, so I'm not sure yet. But it'll probably be around noon." I told him.

Stiles' smile grew a bit as he nodded. "Okay, sounds good. I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Yeah, see you." I said, waving back at him when he waved at me before he climbed back into the jeep and pulled out of my driveway, flashing me a grin before he was driving down the street and away from me.

I sighed softly, shaking my head as I turned back to my front door. Now, more than ever, I was truly determined to find this Derek guy and hopefully get some answers.

* * *

Saturday morning, I had yet to leave my room by eleven. I was still in my pajamas as I lay under in the warmth found under my duvet, a worn copy of _Hawksong_ by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes open in my hands as I read about Danica's internal struggle with accepting that the only way for the war between avians and serpents to end is to marry the prince of snakes himself, Zane.

The sound of my phone going off to my left caused me to jump, I had been so absorbed in the book I'd already read about ten times. I reached over with one hand, pulling my phone towards me and looking at the caller ID on the screen. At seeing the name flashing at me, I frowned and hit the ignore button on the screen, tossing the cellular device down on the bed near my feet.

I was just about to dive back into my book when my phone went off again. This pattern repeated for a while and slowly, my irritation grew. Finally, around the twelfth call, my resolve to ignore the person trying to contact me snapped.

"What?!" I snapped into the phone after I finally answered.

"I am so sorry." The desperate tone in Scott's voice as it reached my ear caused my anger to falter, but only for a moment.

"You know Scott, most people understand after the third time of getting sent straight to voicemail, the person you're trying to call _really_ doesn't want to talk to you." I said as I folded the corner of the page I was on and closed my book, knowing it was going to be a little while before I could concentrate on it again.

"I took a page from Stiles' book." Scott admitted. "And you picked up, so it worked…listen, I'm really sorry about Thursday night. I was angry at myself and I took it out on you."

I sighed, closing my eyes. "No kidding." I grumbled.

"I just wanted to apologize properly, so…thank you for picking up…but I didn't really want to just apologize over the phone so…could you come outside?" He asked, suddenly sounding more nervous than he had previously.

I blinked, looking at my window before I started to get out of my bed. "Scott, are you seriously just standing in front of my house?" I asked, moving the curtain aside to see that Scott was, indeed, standing next to my mailbox. And he was holding something behind his back, his other hand holding his phone to his ear.

"I thought it would be a little forced if I got your mom or dad to let me up to your room." He admitted, looking up at my window and smiling. "Come outside, please?"

I sighed, stepping away from the window. "Give me a second."

I hung up the phone before he could respond, leaving the sanctity of my room and racing down the steps. My mother looked up from the kitchen counter as I entered the space, raising an eyebrow at me.

"Why is your friend Scott just standing outside?" She asked me. "He's been there for nearly twenty minutes."

"He's being an idiotic boy who's actually trying to do something sweet to make up for being a jerk the other day." I said, smiling as I left the kitchen and went out the front door.

Scott smiled, looking relieved to see me as I approached him. He was still holding something behind him, angling himself in just a way so that I couldn't see it as I came to a stop in front of him.

"I'm sorry." He said. "I was a complete ass and I ruined a night that was meant to be fun between three friends. Stiles came over earlier this morning and dragged me out of bed, scolded me for about an hour, then told me to get over here." Scott paused, frowning slightly. "Not that I wasn't going to come over to try to make it up to you on my own, he just…beat me to the punch."

"Literally or figuratively?" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Both." He grinned, shrugging a bit. He then moved the arm holding something behind him, and my eyes widened at the small bouquet he presented.

"Scott…"I said slowly, looking at him nervously.

Scott chuckled at my reaction. "It's not a romantic gesture." He told me with a smirk. "It's just when a guy messes up, he gives the girl flowers."

"Yeah, when they're dating, engaged, or married." I told him, blushing slightly as he read my reaction perfectly.

"Or when he snaps at his friend who just so happens to be of the opposite gender." Scott offered me the flowers. I took them from him slowly, my eyes still wide in surprise as I looked at them, quickly recognizing the flowers.

I looked up at him, confusion on my face. "How…"

"Stiles said you mentioned it once, that you loved purple and white calla lilies." Scott shrugged, smiling softly as he scratched at the back of his neck.

"He remembered that?" I asked, blinking rapidly at him.

Scott grinned at me. "You'd be surprised how much stuff you say to Stiles that he remembers." He told me, causing me to blush brightly. "He said you described the entire _Hunger Games_ series to him and he could tell me practically anything about it."

My blush darkened slightly as I looked down at the flowers I held, smiling at them. "I can't believe he remembers that stuff."

"If I told you that he hasn't talked about Lydia for nearly a month, would you forgive me?" He asked, sounding a little hopeful.

My eyes widened and I looked back up at him. "Are you implying what I think you are?"

"I don't know." He grinned. "You like him though, don't you?"

I bit my lip, looking away for a moment before I turned my golden eyes back on him. "It's…complicated." I said. "What has Stiles told you about how we met?"

Scott blinked, frowning a bit. "Nothing actually. When I asked he said it was hard to explain. Why?"

I sighed, not daring to look away, least I lose my courage. "It was at the police station." I started, watching as his eyes widened with worry. "Someone…hurt me, badly. That's why I would always flinch when you would try to hug me or something when we were still getting to know each other. Stiles was in his dad's cruiser when the cops that found me made the call over the radio, that's how he found out. At the station we talked a little bit, and when my dad came to pick me up, Stiles gave me his number, saying to call or text him whenever I needed someone to talk to. A few days later…I did just that. We've been hanging out ever since."

Scott didn't respond right away, his eyes wide at the news. "Julie, I am so-"

"Don't apologize." I said quickly, cutting him off. "You didn't know Scott, and you weren't the one that hurt me. The other night, you just frightened me a little, because I'm still healing from the whole experience. But it's okay. Just…know you aren't some baggage of Stiles', you're my friend too Scott."

"I know." He said, looking sad suddenly. "And you're my friend too Julie."

I smiled and stepped towards him, moving the bouquet out from between us so I could lean up to kiss his cheek. "Thanks Scott. And you're forgiven."

He chuckled, scratching his jaw. "You're a good friend Julie."

"So are you Scott." I told him, smiling gently.

* * *

**I needed to give Scott and Julie a cutesie bonding moment, because their relationship (as friends) is going to be pretty important later on.**


	6. Chapter 6

"So, can you tell me why you waited so long to come see me about this?"

I looked up and sighed, my eyes meeting those of Ms. Morrell, Beacon Hills High School's very own guidance counselor. I think she taught French too, but since I'd chosen to take Spanish, I'd never had her as a teacher.

"Because my dad begged me to finally go." I told her simply, my hands folded in my lap. "I don't need therapy."

"Why do you say that?" She asked, her head tilting to the side a bit as she watched me.

"Because I have really good friends who've been able to get me through it." I said, with a shrug, looking down at my hands as I thought of Stiles and Scott. "I mean, one of them doesn't really know everything that happened, he just knows that someone hurt me and I'm still healing."

"So you're still healing?"

I let out a single snort of laughter, looking back up at her. "Is this twenty questions?" I asked, shaking my head. I paused for a moment, eyes focusing on nothing and everything at once. "Yes, I am still healing. It doesn't take a few weeks to get over something like this."

"No, I suppose it doesn't." She smiled at me, but there was no happiness or positivity behind it, just silent understanding. "You said 'he', are you talking about Scott or Stiles?"

I blinked, sitting up a bit straighter. "How did you know they're the friends I was talking about?"

"When your father set up this appointment, I asked if he could stop in and talk with me first." Morrell explained, picking up a pen and writing something on a paper on her desk. "He told me about how at first you never seemed to leave your room, then you invite Stiles over and, slowly, you've been opening up again to the world, but you don't seem to want to talk to any of your friends from before."

I nodded slowly, leaning back in my chair again. "Scott." I said, answering her earlier question. "I meant Scott. Stiles was in his dad's police cruiser with him when the officers who found me sent the call out over the radio. Then when I was waiting for the sheriff at the station, Stiles snuck into the room I was in and we talked."

"Can you tell me what you talked about?" She asked.

"Umm, not much." I said, thrown off a bit by her question. "He asked me if I went to school here, then he recognized me as the one always writing in a journal I have. I told him about how I'm writing a book, and after that he noticed me shiver, offered me this plaid shirt he was wearing over a t-shirt and then the sheriff walked in."

"You write?"

I nodded, looking down again. "Well…I used to." I said softly, frowning. "I, umm…I haven't really been able to write since that day."

I wasn't able to see her, my eyes trained on the desk between us. "Why haven't you?"

"Because every time I sit down to work on something, anything, my mind goes blank." I started to tell her, feeling the familiar prick of tears in my eyes. "And every time my mind goes blank, I start to think about it."

"So writing is, in turn, causing you pain?" I nodded in response, not trusting my voice at that moment. "How about we change the subject a bit. You seem to be quite dependent on Stiles even though you've only really gotten to know him since that day. Can you tell me why this may be?"

"Because he makes me feel safe." My answer was immediate, no thought required. It was something I'd thought about before, why I'd reached out to Stiles instead of one of those few friends of mine that I'd had for years. "I…I don't have to pretend everything is okay around Stiles because he knows it isn't. He knows I have wounds that are still healing and the only thing that will heal them is time. While I wait for them to close and heal completely, he's there to help keep my mind off of it so they can heal faster."

"But you have other friends who could also distract you from you memories." Morrell pointed out, watching me curiously. "Why haven't you gone to them?"

"When I discovered that Stiles knew what happened, I wasn't shocked. But when it comes to the friends I've had before that day, I know that none of them can give me what he does. They'll pity me, try to comfort me and always ask if I'm okay. I don't want that. With Stiles, there's a quiet understanding that doting on me will only make things worse. I get enough of that from my mother, and if I get it from my friends too, I'll never really heal, not fully at least."

Morrell nodded slowly, writing something else down before eyes full of understanding looked up at me again. "Your father mentioned the main reason why he and your mother finally convinced you to at least talk to me was because you've been having nightmares. And they've been getting worse?"

I nodded, sighing as I wiped my cheeks with both hands, even though I hadn't shed a tear. "Yeah, I haven't been getting a lot of sleep lately because of them." I said. "I've probably had one good night of sleep since it happened."

"Just one night? What happened that night to change things?" She asked.

I blinked, thinking about that day. "It was the first night that my nightmares changed." I said. "They were always the same, for about two weeks. Then something changed that caused me to…" I hesitated. "I called Stiles, because my nightmares went from me running through the woods and away from that voice, the voice of the man that did it, to me running through the woods away from that voice, finding Stiles, and…his throat was slit." I let out an unsteady sigh, closing my eyes. "I called him because he died and I freaked out when I woke up. I needed to be sure that he was okay, that he was safe and alive. He talked until I fell asleep. I got about six or seven hours of dreamless…of nightmare-less sleep after that."

"So Stiles is the main reason why you think you're healing?"

"I don't know, maybe?" I shrugged, meeting her gaze again. "I think it mainly just helps to have someone to talk to that knows what happened to you but you don't have to actually talk about what happened to know he's there for you."

"Sounds like the two of you have grown pretty close in the past month." Morrell said, earning only a shrug from me. "You mentioned that that night was the _first_ time your nightmares changed. Have they changed since?"

"Yeah." I answered, sighing. "Two other times since."

"Can you tell me about them?"

I frowned, but nodded. I didn't speak right away through, not entirely wanting to relive them. "The second time they changed was about a week after the first time." I started, my gaze dropping to the desk again. "I'd watched Stiles stumble towards me in the dark with his throat slit for a week, then suddenly I was seeing it happen." I choked out, biting my lip. "And each night, it was a different person doing it. First it was Scott, then my dad, my mom, the guy who gave us our tickets at the theater when we went to see the new Transformers movie, every night it was a different person."

"And the last time it changed?"

I looked back up at her, knowing my eyes were shining with unshed tears. "The night before my dad set this up." I told her. "As I watched Stiles' dead body fall to the leaf covered ground at the feet of his own father, the voice … the man, he caught up to me. Started pulling me away, away from Stiles and any chance I had at trying to help him. When I woke up, I couldn't stop screaming, even when my father burst into my room and tried to get me to stop. I must have screamed for about five full minutes."

"Does Stiles know about your nightmares?"

"He knows I have them." I said with a shrug. "He just doesn't know what they involve."

"And what about Scott?"

"Like I said, he doesn't know the full story." I told her with a sigh. "He might suspect something about what happened, I don't know. Sometimes though, I remember the look on his face the first time he tried to hug me, but I practically ran away from him."

"And what about now? Do you flinch when he or Stiles try to touch you?"

I shook my head. "No. Stiles still asks permission when he goes to hug me or something. Scott always hesitates, but I think they've noticed that it's getting better."

Morrell nodded, watching me closely. "Have you talked to your parents much about how you're doing, about your nightmares?"

I shook my head, sighing. "No, I think it would just freak them out more."

"Julianna, when I talked to your father, he asked me why you wouldn't talk to him about your nightmares." Morrell told me, causing me to look at her again. "He wanted to know why you'd be afraid to talk about this sort of stuff with him."

"My dad can seem strong and brave, especially when it comes to me, but I know underneath the surface he's more afraid of what happened than I am." I told her.

"And your mother?"

I scoffed at her question, my arms crossing over my chest. "My mother can act as much as she likes, but I know what she really thinks." I said. "She doesn't care the way you'd think a mother would."

"And why do you think that?" Morrell was frowning as she spoke, her eyes boring into mine.

I sighed, glancing away for a moment before I met her gaze again. "She never wanted kids." I told her, seeing that flash of surprise flash through Ms. Morrell's eyes. "Do you know what she did when the doctor told her she was pregnant? She asked when she'd be able to have an abortion. Back then, things with abortion weren't as advanced as they are now, and the doctor told her it was too late to perform an abortion. About two months later, she tried to force herself to miscarry by throwing herself down the stairs."

The silence that followed was eerie, but I never broke eye contact with the teacher in front of me. After about a minutes, I spoke again. "I've always known my mother doesn't have a single motherly bone in her body. It was only because of my dad that I even know her as my mom, but ever since I found out that she'd tried to force me to die before I was even born, our relationship has been a bit extra strained compared to how it used to be when I still loved her unconditionally, the way a daughter should." I sighed, looking away. "Can I go home now?"

"Yes, I suppose that is enough for today." Morrell finally said, nodding slowly. "If you ever want to talk again Julianna, my door is always open."

I nodded, standing from my seat. I muttered a quick thanks before going to her door.

"Julianna."

Her voice caused me to pause in the doorway, turning back to look at her. "Yeah?"

"I want you to try something. You don't have to, it's up to you, but I think it might help." I blinked at what she was saying, but nodded for her to go on. "Try writing about what happened. You don't have to show anyone, do whatever you'd like with it. You can burn the pages, tear them into tiny little pieces of paper and toss them into the river, whatever you choose to do, but try writing about it, get it out of your system."

I frowned, thinking about what she said. Finally I nodded. "I'll think about it." I said honestly, earning a curt nod in response before I left her office.

Heading back to the parking lot, my eyes scanned over the few cars that were present and frowned. My mother had not waited around for me, which I wasn't fully shocked by, but I'd texted her as soon as Morrell let me leave. She had responded with a confirmation, but instead of finding her dark sedan waiting for me, my eyes landed on a pale blue jeep and its driver leaning against the side.

Stiles smiled as I walked up to him, but I didn't stop a foot or so away from him as I usually did. Instead, I walked right up to him and slipped into his arms. He instinctively wrapped his arms around my shoulders as my hands slid under his light sweatshirt to grip at the t-shirt he wore underneath, burying my face in his chest and breathing in that oddly comforting scent.

"Hey, everything okay?" He asked quietly, rubbing my back softly as he ducked his head, trying to catch my gaze with his. I shook my head slightly, keeping my eyes closed. His embrace tightened slightly and we stood there for a few minutes in silence until I finally pulled away.

Stiles' amber-brown eyes were filled with worry as he gazed down at me as I wiped at my eyes, trying my best not to cry. I'd settled a bit, having taken comfort in his arms, but I never talked about my mom's feelings about having a kid, about having me. It always rattled me to the bones.

I must have been lost in thought for longer than I thought, because I jumped slightly at the feeling of Stiles' hands cupping my face gently, forcing me to look at him with eyes wide.

"What happened?" He asked, genuine concern heard in his voice and shinning in his eyes.

"I-I had an appointment with Ms. Morrell." I said simply, closing my eyes and leaning into one of his hands a bit. His large palms cupped my cheeks gently, just loose enough so that their present gave me comfort, but I could easily pull away if his touch became overwhelming. "Why are y-you here?"

"Your dad called, asked if I could pick you up from the school here." He told me, one of his thumbs rubbing a gentle circle on my cheek. "Did you give him my number?"

"Yeah, he wanted it just in case. I meant to tell you." I admitted, opening my eyes to look at him again. He nodded, smiling softly. "Hey, since you're here, c-can we go somewhere? I'll show you how to get there, I just need to go there to calm down."

"Yeah, no, of course." His hands slid from my face, the loss of his touch making my face feel cold as he turned to the jeep and opened the passenger door for me. I smiled at him and slid into the seat, leaning back into it and letting out a shaking breath as Stiles raced around to the other side of the vehicle to get behind the wheel.

* * *

"Turn left up ahead." I said, pointing to the turn ahead of us. We were on one of the road paths in the preserve outside of town, trees going by as we drove further into the woods. Stiles had yet to question where we were going, but I knew he was dying to ask.

Stiles turned as instructed, slowing the jeep to a stop as we came to a small parking area moments later. "This it?" He asked, but I was already unbuckling my seat belt and slipping out of the car. He quickly put the jeep into park and killed the engine before getting out to follow me.

"We have to walk the rest of the way." I told him. He nodded, coming up to stand next to me as we walked into the trees. I blinked when his hand gripped mine gently. Chancing a glance at him, I saw him watching me nervously. I smiled at him and threaded my fingers between his, earning a small smile. "You can ask now you know."

He blinked and chuckled. "Where are you taking me?" He asked, finally asking the question he'd been dying to ask since we left the school.

"Before my grandmother fell sick and we had to put her in the nursing home, she used to take me out here all the time." I started to explain as I led him through the trees, following a path that only existed in my memories. "I'd often come out here on my own when I just needed to get away, but I haven't come here all summer. To be honest, for the longest time I was a little afraid to come here, because I had woken up in the woods that day." I chanced a glance over my shoulder at him. I caught his eye and he smiled thinly, giving my hand a reassuring squeeze. I smiled back before looking back ahead.

"Why did you have to put her in the nursing home?" He asked.

"She has Alzheimer's disease." I told him, stepping carefully onto a fallen tree. Stiles helped balance me as I made my way over it, though he never let go of my hand, even as he clambered over it himself. "Last time I went to go see her, she didn't even know who I was." I told him. "It was really hard on me, I've always adored her. Now all she seems to do is ramble about old Greek myths and creatures from fairy tales."

"Why just Greek myths?"

"Well I'm half Greek from my mother." I told him. "And my grandmother always loved the old myths and legends. Whenever I stayed the night at her house as a child, she'd tell me about the gods and the old heroes. My favorite was always the story of how Medusa was turned into a gorgon by Athena."

"I thought Medusa was born a gorgon." Stiles said, curious as he continued to follow me deeper into the trees, though we were nearly there.

"In the original myth, yes, but there was a later version told by the Roman poet, Ovid." I stated. "In Ovid's version, Medusa was once a ravishingly beautiful woman who caught the attention of many men and suitors. The women of her village were jealous of her and every man wanted to make her his wife. She even caught the attention of the god Poseidon. But she refused him, and others, saying that she was a woman of Athena and vowed to remain virginal for all her days. But Poseidon wanted her like no other, so he raped her in a temple of Athena, sneaking up on her as she prayed to her goddess. His act enraged Athena, but she took it out on Medusa, not her fellow deity. In her rage, Athena turned Medusa's beautiful hair into venomous snakes, and made her face so twisted and ugly, any man or woman who laid their eyes upon it would be turned to stone. In the tale, Perseus describes Medusa's punishment as just and well earned, but if you ask me, it was the complete opposite. I can especially say now that Medusa did not earn such a punishment."

"Because she was raped." Stiles breathed, and I knew he was watching me.

I nodded, turning to him. "I can relate to her, now." I told him, having halted in our path. "Athena was the goddess of war, but did not believe in striking the enemy without cause. Medusa was a victim, not the goddess' enemy."

Stiles frowned slightly, nodding in agreement. "How much longer till we get to where you're taking me?" He asked, changing the subject.

I smiled softly, turning back to the way we were headed. "About a minute."

I had to let go of Stiles' hand in order to slide down into the deep gully, rather than take the longer route down the hill in order to get into it at the entrance. He followed easily, looking around us curiously once we reached the bottom.

"What is this?" He asked.

"My sanctuary." I told him with a smile, taking his hand again as I led him deeper into the gully. The earth went up on either side of us, reaching about fifteen feet at the most. "My grandmother found this place as a child, when there was still a creek running through it. The creek dried out during a drought decades ago, and she planted a tree here when she found out she was going to have my mother. My mom knows about this place, but I know she never comes here. Now the tree is the only one down here, but it's the best place to go when you want to be alone."

We turned a sharp corner and the walls of the gully moved away from us, opening up into a small valley-like space no larger than a standard classroom. Growing against the wall of the gully opposite us was a tall tree, it's branches sprouting in bright, pink flowers.

"It's in bloom." I said, grinning widely as I walked across the open space to the tree. As I grew near, I saw the etching in the tree from years ago, before I was born. My mother had taken my father here once, when they were young, and he had carved their names into the bark. I'd always loved the sight of it, ever since I was first brought here.

"Woah." I heard Stiles breathe from behind me, causing me to look at him. He was looking around us, grinning a bit. "This place is awesome." He said, looking at me, his grin widening. "What kind of tree is that?"

"It's a Californian redbud tree, the only one in this area of the state apparently." I told him, moving to sit on one of the exposed roots that stretched down. "My grandmother always said she knew my mother was going to be something special, so she wanted to plant a special tree just for her."

Stiles hummed as he moved to sit beside me, his spot against the tree causing our heads to be level with one another's. We didn't talk for a while, just enjoying the quiet sounds of nature around us. After a while, I leaned towards him, resting my head on his shoulder as I took his hand in mine both of mine, examining his long fingers. He rested his head against mine, and something about our current situation told me he was smiling fondly. I knew I was.

"Julie."

My name was barely whispered, but it was just loud enough to reach my ears and I turned my head to look at him. His fingers wrapped around mine as I met his gaze, and suddenly, I was overly-aware of how close we were. I felt my face heat as I refused to break eye contact with him.

"Yeah?" I asked, my voice just as quiet.

His jaw clenched slightly, like he was conflicted to say what he wanted to. A small part of me suspected what was about to happen, and I didn't pull away. I didn't want to.

"Stiles."

The moment I breathed his name, urging him to do or say something, I saw the determination in his eyes. "Can I kiss you?"

My breath caught in my throat as my eyes widened in surprise. He was watching me, those amber eyes filled with determination still, but at my hesitation, worry filled them as well. I opened my mouth to answer, but I couldn't find my voice, so instead, I nodded slowly.

The worry left his eyes as he swallowed, closing his eyes as he tilted his head slightly and leaned in. I closed my own eyes as I felt his lips just brush against mine, the touch soft as a feather but warmer than anything I'd experienced in a long time.

The kiss was brief and chaste, little more than a press of his lips against mine. Stiles pulled away slowly, watching me with a nervous expression in his eyes. I smiled softly, my cheeks burning as complete realization dawned on me. As soon as he registered the smile on my face, Stiles grinned sheepishly.

"All good?" He asked softly.

"Amazing." I answered, earning a widening grin. I laughed softly, leaning over to kiss the corner of his mouth before I stood, reaching up above us and pulling myself up into the branches of the tree.

"Where are you going?" He called, watching as I climbed higher. I paused and looked down at him, smiling widely.

"Up." I told him before climbing higher. His laugh reached my ears, followed by the slight scrapping sound of his sneakers against the bark of the tree as he moved to follow me through the branches.

We climbed as high as we could, perching on separate branches so that our combined weight wouldn't cause one to snap under us. Still, we sat close enough that I could lean across the small gap separating us, meeting his lips in another kiss. I felt like flying, because for the first time in a long time, the world was bright.

* * *

**If you guys read anything on Wattpad, I found a story called 'Grave Matters' by silverspacechameleon. It's a Stiles/OC story and I'm completely in love with it. Sadly, I've already finished the main story, but she's been adding on little fluff chapters as extra content.  
**

**Speaking of Wattpad, I mentioned in Chapter 1 that I was posting this story to there as well, and I was getting a little sad that there didn't seem to be as big of a response there as there is here. Then again, Wattpad is more than just fanfiction, so I really shouldn't be too surprised. Still, I recently got 8 votes, and I have yet to post chapters four and five! I'm completely updating the Wattpad version to chapter 6 right after I post this, but I'm glad that this story is getting some recognition over on that site.**

**Oh, and things are going to start picking up action wise in the next chapter or so. I'm really excited to actually start getting into that part of the story because I've put a lot of effort in research wise for this story. The general happenings of chapters has been planned all the way up to chapter 15, so I should be able to keep up with this story when it comes to ideas, because by chapter 11 or 12, we're going to get into the actual show.  
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**Now, hope you enjoyed this chapter! See you next Saturday!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Okay, I'm uploading this chapter a day early because I do not know if I'll have time to upload it tomorrow. A friend of mine is turning 21 so we're taking her out and I have to leave my place early to pick up a couple people and get the space we rented out ready for the night. So, enjoy the early chapter, and I'll see you guys next week!**

* * *

I started awake, sitting up in bed suddenly. I sat there for a few moments, two different sets of memories, one actual memories, the other just the lingering memory of my dream, leaving me confused for a few moments. When I was able to remember which one had happened yesterday, I groaned and fell back onto my pillows. I stared up at the ceiling of my room, blushing slightly.

Of course I had to dream about taking Stiles to the spot in the woods my grandmother had often taken me to when I was a child, and about kissing him under the very tree that had been planted to represent my mother, where my parents had shared their first kiss, and where my father had proposed to my mother all those years ago. I let out a shaking breath, closing my eyes. Oh how I wish that it had actually happened.

Stiles had been there to pick me up after my appointment with Ms. Morrell, but instead of going to the woods, he'd driven me straight home. He stayed over for a few hours, we played through half of the Wii games I was just starting to collect, which really wasn't much, and my mother even convinced him to stay for dinner. It had been a fun night, but it was nowhere near as perfect as my dream had been.

I had come to the conclusion that I liked Stiles as more than a friend some time ago, before Scott's big apology, but I still wasn't certain about how Stiles felt for me. Sure, Scott had given me hints, but I was still hesitant. Had Stiles actually told Scott he liked me as more than a friend should? Or was Scott just reading into our friendship a bit too much? And what of Stiles' apparently undying love for Lydia Martin?

A knock on my bedroom door snapped me out of my thoughts, and I blinked as my father opened the door, a tray full of food in his hands. I smiled at the sight, suddenly remembering that today was the first day of August.

"Happy birthday Jewels." He said, setting the tray on my desk. "You sleep well?"

I blinked at his question, my brows furrowing. "I didn't have a nightmare." I breathed, looking up at him, completely shocked.

My father blinked before he smiled widely. "I knew talking to Ms. Morrell would help." He told me, but something told me that Morrell wasn't the reason for my first good dream in weeks. "Now come and eat up. We have five hours until your party starts and we still need to decorate. You mother will be cooking all day, so it'll be up to you and me."

"Actually, I asked Stiles and Scott to come over two hours early to help a little, if that's okay." I said as I crawled out from under my covers, crossing my room to the breakfast my father had brought up for me. I smiled at the sight of the food on the tray, but blinked at the sight of a wrapped, square object in the corner of the tray. I looked up at my dad, who was smiling widely.

"I know, I know." He said, holding up his hands after seeing my confused expression. "Instead of giving you your present at dinner as we usually do, your mother and I agreed that you'd probably like to have this with you today, to test it out. But don't open it until after you've eaten." He told me, kissing my forehead. "Happy Birthday Jewels, and of course Stiles and Scott can come over early." With that, he left my room so I could eat in peace.

As I sat at my desk, eating, my eyes kept going to the box now sitting next to my tray. My curiosity had been piqued the moment I saw it sitting next to my waffles and bacon. As soon as I had swallowed the final bite and swallowed down the last of my orange juice, I had the box in my hands, carefully tearing away the colorful wrapping paper.

My eyes widened slightly before I smiled, taking the brand new Nikon D3100 from its box. I let out a choked laugh, one hand covering my mouth. I'd always wanted a proper DSLR camera. The tiny little digital one in my desk drawer did the job, but I was never happy with the quality of the images. I set the camera back in the box, getting up to get dressed quickly. I pulled off my pajamas before slipping into the dress I'd chosen for today. Originally, when I sat down with my parents to make the guest list for my Sweet Sixteenth, I had been nervous. All summer I'd barely spoken to my friends, spending most of my days with Stiles and Scott. What would they, the girls, think of me hanging out with two guys all summer? Yes, they were my friends, but none of them were that close that they wouldn't gossip about me behind me back.

In the end, I hadn't really cared. I hadn't seen most of my old friends except in passing all summer, but there was no way I wasn't going to invite Scott and Stiles today, they'd done so much for me over the past month and a half.

I adjusted the mostly white dress with butterflies and the silhouettes of butterflies covering most of the skirt of the dress. I added a pair of silver, flat sandals and a butterfly wing necklace. I walked into my bathroom, curling my hair slightly and putting it up into a mess bun before I grabbed my new camera and ran down the stairs and into the kitchen.

My parents smiled at me, and since my mother was closest, I hugged her first, chanting 'thank you' again and again. They laughed at me as I moved to my father, hugging him just as tight as I had my mother.

"Here, so you can keep it close and not worry about dropping it." My mother said, handing me a pure black camera strap. Grinning with excitement, I attached it to my camera and hung the object around my neck.

"I love it!" I told them, smiling as I snapped a picture of them.

My father laughed at my excitement, grinning. "You'll have to put it down for a couple hours so you can help me with the decorations."

I pouted at his words, but set the camera on the kitchen table non-the-less. "I'm going to go and grab my phone and double check when Stiles and Scott are going to be here." I said, running back up the stairs.

* * *

"Happy birthday Julie!"

I turned, smiling as Scott and Stiles entered the backyard from the patio door to join me and my dad outside. "Thanks guys!" I said, laughing as Stiles hugged me, lifting me off my feet. When I was touching the ground again, I smiled up at him.

"Wow Julie, you look great!" Scott said, making me blush slightly.

"Thanks Scott." I said, smiling at him before looking at Stiles. He was glancing between me and Scott before he caught me looking at him. His hands were still on my side slightly, and he removed them then to step back and look me up and down. Under his gaze, I felt my cheeks redden more.

Stiles smiled. "I've never seen you in a dress." He commented.

I shrugged, praying my cheeks weren't as red as I believed them to be. "I really only wear them on special occasions. It's weird, not being in jeans." He chuckled at my statement, causing me to grin a bit.

"Well you should wear them more often." Scott said, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. He grinned at me, giving me a wink. I flushed, chancing a glance at Stiles who was watching us with a raised eyebrow.

"So, you two ready to be put to manual labor?" I asked, slipping out from under Scott's arm and heading over to where the rest of the decorations were.

* * *

"Oh my god Julie, Scott McCall is here!" My friend Amber said, eyes wide as she looked across the yard where Stiles and Scott stood, talking by themselves.

"Oh, yeah, I've been hanging out with him and Stiles a lot this summer." I said, blushing slightly. "You should see the leather journal he got me, it's pretty cool."

"Wait, are you two dating?" Amber asked, her eyes widening to an ever more comical level.

"What? No, not Scott. He's sweet and all, but he's just a friend." I told her, blushing slightly.

"So are you dating Stiles?" She asked, raising an eyebrow at me as she smiled.

I knew my blush had darkened when her smile widened gleefully. "Okay, we aren't dating, but I'm not against the idea. It's just…he's totally in love with Lydia Martin. How do I compete with that?"

"Well, if you ask me, a little change in wardrobe would help." She said with a shrug. "I know you love your jeans Julie, but if you were to show off those legs of yours more often, I'm sure you'd be able to distract him from the Queen Bee herself."

"Why are you two talking about Lydia?"

I looked up, sighing in relief when our friend Claire walked up to us. "It's nothing." I said with a shrug.

"No it isn't!" Amber said, grinning. "She likes Stiles!"

Claire smiled, turning to me. "Really?"

I groaned. "Okay, yes, I like him!" I said. "Now swear you two won't say anything!"

"We won't." They chimed, giggling together. I groaned again.

"Okay, I'm going to have faith that you won't tell the entire school and walk away to go talk to other people." I said, going over to the table with food.

The next few hours passed quickly, the entire party was like a whole blur. I kept an eye on Amber and Claire, making sure they didn't get Stiles alone. I wanted to talk to Stiles before he heard from someone else that I liked him as much as I did.

As most of those that had come to the party trickled out, I soon realized the only people left were Scott, Stiles, and Amber. I bit my lip as I watched Amber openly flirt with a nervous Scott, a plastic cup filled with punch in my hand.

"I feel a little bad for him." I said, looking at Stiles who stood next to me, eating what was likely his fourth slice of cake.

"Why? Amber's pretty and Scott is single, so why not?" He said, shrugging.

"You don't know Amber like I do. She can get a little ruthless when it comes to guys." I told him before taking a sip of punch. I felt Stiles shift a bit beside me, causing me to look at him again. He was frowning down at his plate, only a few bites left of the chocolate cake on it. "You okay?" I asked, tilting my head.

Stiles glanced up at me and sighed. "You like Scott, don't you?" He asked, causing my eyes to widen.

"Umm, as a friend." I told him.

He scoffed, almost bitterly, as he looked up at me. "It was the flowers, wasn't it?" He asked. "I knew I shouldn't have told him to bring you those flowers." He turned, throwing his plate in a nearby trash can before walking towards the house.

"Stiles!" I called, tossing my glass into the trash as I followed after him. I had to jog slightly to catch up to him, grabbing his arm and forcing him to stop once we'd reached the kitchen.

He sighed, bowing his head and not meeting my worried gaze.

"Oh my god." I breathed, realizing it suddenly. "You're jealous, aren't you? You're jealous of Scott."

Stiles groaned, finally lifting his gaze to meet mine. "He just…always gets the girl." He said, pouting.

I raised my eyebrows at him, causing him to sigh and pull his arm from my grip. I frowned and grabbed his hand before he could walk away. He looked at me, confusion and slight frustration in his eyes. "I don't like Scott like that." I told him, my tone determined. "I…I like someone else, but I didn't think they'd ever like me back, because he likes someone else. He's liked this girl for a long time and I always thought I didn't stand a chance because he always seemed so completely in love with her, he'd have no room in his heart for me. But maybe I was wrong." I closed my eyes and sighed, letting go of his hand slowly. "I want to show you something."

I removed the camera from around my neck, setting it to playback mode so I could show him the pictures I'd taken today, during the party. I moved so I stood close to his side, and he leaned his head closer to mine so we could look at the small screen together.

Throughout the day, with my new camera in hand, I'd taken as many pictures as I could. I'd always been interested in photography, wanting to capture the image of places I had been and of people I had met. But today, my camera seemed to always come back to the same person.

I flipped through the images, there was almost a hundred of them, and about two thirds of the images were of Stiles. Of him laughing with Scott, grinning as he spoke with my father about something, there was even one where he'd accidentally poured his punch on my friend Samantha, who left the party half way through in a fit of rage. I paused on what was probably my favorite one, which had actually been taken by Scott. It was of me and Stiles together, when he'd been eating his second slice of cake. He had a bit on his fork and was about to raise it to his mouth, but I'd leaned over and snatched the bite from the utensil. The look of surprise on Stiles' face was priceless, and it made me smile.

My cheeks were probably rose red as I looked up at Stiles again, his eyes glued to the image on the camera screen. He was smiling fondly at it before he noticed my gaze, glancing up at me.

"So, you…." He hesitated, unsure of what to say.

"Yeah." I blushed more, answering his unasked question.

"I'm an idiot, aren't I?" He asked a few moments later, scratching at the back of his neck nervously, as he often does.

"I am too." I told him, smiling softly. "I mean, I haven't heard you talk about Lydia all summer, even though I'd hear you at school all the time go on and on about her. I hadn't even realized until Scott pointed it out during his big apology." I blinked and grinned, looking at him. "You have no idea how happy I was when he told me you'd remembered that purple and while calla lilies are my favorite."

Stiles flushed then, grinning sheepishly. "It's not that impressive." He said.

I smiled softly, turning towards him completely. I was hesitant then, not really sure how to tell him about my uncertainty. "Stiles, there's just one major detail we need to talk about here."

He looked at me, blinking a bit. "Yeah?" He asked.

"If we…start dating or something…you know it's going to be a while before we do anything…special, right?" I asked, blushing as he did. "I mean, after what happened, I don't know if or when I'll even be ready for that. I mean, I really, really like you Stiles, but stuff like kissing or, more, I just…I understand if us not doing that sort of thing will be hard for you, you're a teenage guy and everything, I know you have hormones and I have no idea when I'll be ready emotionally to do that so-" I was cut off my Stiles' hand covering my mouth, a small smile on his lips.

"Julie, I'm a sixteen year old virgin boy. Yes, I have hormones and I'd very much like to kiss you, but if I've been able to wait sixteen years, I think I'll be able to wait until you're ready." My cheeks flared red at his words, and when he moved his hand to cup my cheek, I closed my eyes and leaned into his touch, smiling softly.

"What did I do to deserve a guy like you Stiles?" I asked, looking up to meet his gaze.

He smiled widely, pulling me into a hug. "I think the question is, how did I deserve you?" He whispered into my ear, causing me to blush more.

"Am I interrupting something?"

We jumped apart, my cheeks bright red once more, as my gaze met Amber's. She was standing in the door that led out to the backyard, smiling widely at us.

"Ugh, I think I'm gonna go find Scott." Stiles stuttered slightly, smiling at me before he slipped past Amber to head back outside. She watched him go, smiling the entire time before he had left us alone.

Amber looked back at me and squealed slightly. "I am so sorry I interrupted, was he about to kiss you?" She said, walking over to me and taking my hands.

I blushed more, shaking my head. "I-I don't think so." I said, which was only a half lie. He might have kissed my cheek or something, if she hadn't popped up. "It's okay though. Apparently his feelings for Lydia aren't as strong as I thought."

"Well no duh!" She grinned. "Again, I'm sorry I interrupted, just wanted to let you know my mom wants me back home, so I have to go. And you know, Stiles may be a little odd for my taste, but I think the two of you are really cute together!"

I blushed, smiling slightly. "You know Amber, I think out of all my gal friends, you're my favorite." I told her, and it was the honest truth.

Amber grinned, hugging me quick. "Then no more ignoring my calls, got it? We need to actually hang out this summer Julie!" She said after she pulled away. "I know now why you're always so busy, but you need to make time for us girls too, okay?"

"Okay, I promise." I said, grinning at her. "And hey, promise you won't tell anyone? I mean, Stiles and I barely talked about it, I don't know if we're even technically dating or whatever."

"Oh you better be." She said with a grin. "Now, I really need to go. And hey, maybe you could put a good word in for me with Scott?"

I laughed slightly. "Amber, I think you scare Scott."

"Wouldn't be the first time." She said with a wink before kissing me on the cheek and said good bye one last time before she left. I sighed once she was gone, blushing a bit as I stared through the glass door at where Stiles and Scott stood, talking with my parents. I bit my lip nervously before walking out to them, putting a smile on my face.

* * *

Sometime later, as Stiles drove Scott home from Julie's, he chewed on his lip nervously, his fingers tapping against the steering wheel.

"Dude, why are you so nervous?" Scott asked his best friend, glancing over at him. "You and Julie finally told each other how you feel, how can you be nervous?"

"Scott, that's not what I'm nervous about." Stiles said, earning a confused look from the teen werewolf. Stiles sighed, gripping the steering wheel tightly. "I told you how Julie suspects that we're keeping a secret from her, right?"

"Well, we are." Scott pointed out, causing Stiles to roll his eyes.

"Yeah, well we kind of have a problem!" Stiles told him. "Her camera. She took a lot of pictures today, a lot of them with you, which is like, every single one of them, has those freaking laser beam eye things going on."

Scott blinked before his eyes widened nervously. "She's going to notice, isn't she?"

"No, Scott, she's just going to think it's a complete coincidence that one of her best friends always has lens flare coming from his eyes in every photo taken of him." Stiles said sarcastically, pulling up to the curb outside of Scott's house. He parked the jeep, turning to him. "What are we going to do if she figures it out on her own?"

Scott groaned, rubbing his face with both his hands. "I don't know! Tell her the truth?"

"Scott, you and I both know it's dangerous just _knowing_ you aren't human! If she gets involved in any of this, I-I think I'm going to completely freak out man!" Stiles shouted.

"We both knew that hanging out this much with her was going to mean she'd find out eventually!" Scott pointed out. "You're the one that didn't want to back off from her when I realized she was starting to notice things."

"Oh come on Scott, I'm her Batman, she needs me." Stiles pouted slightly, hitting the steering wheel with his forehead in complete frustration.

Scott grinned at his friend's response. "And you thought Allison and me were too much. You and Julie haven't even officially started dating yet and you're like this." He stated with a smirk.

"Shut up." Stiles said, turning his head to glare at his friend halfheartedly. Scott shrugged and opened the door, slipping out of the jeep.

He paused before closing the door, turning to Stiles again. "I know you're worried about telling Julie the truth, but if we continue to keep everything a secret from her, it'll hurt her more the longer we don't tell her."

Stiles sighed, closing his eyes. "I know Scott, I just don't want her to get hurt."

Scott smiled at the other teen, shaking his head slightly. "We'll think of something, Batman."

Stiles' eyes snapped open, only to narrow them at his friend. "Dude, only Julie can call me that."

Scott laughed. "Right." He said before closing the passenger door and turning towards his house, grinning a bit, though he knew he and Stiles had to do something when it came to trying to keep Julie separated from the supernatural stuff going on in the small town of Beacon Hills.

* * *

**No, that part with Stiles and Julie finally telling the other that the like each other as more than friends wasn't another dream, I promise you! But you must hate me for making the kiss under the tree a dream, huh? I don't blame you, I just wanted to be a little devilish :) Anyways, things are finally going to get a bit more fast paced from here on out, and we get introduced to Julie's grandmother next chapter. I'm actually really excited! OH, but now Stiles or Scott next chapter. To make it up for you, chapter 9 will include our second werewolf sighting! Any guesses who? :)**

**If you liked the chapter, don't forget the leave a review! I always love to hear what you thought of a new chapter.  
**


	8. Chapter 8

I may have just dreamt it, telling Stiles about my grandmother, but it had been the truth. Still, even if she wasn't able to remember, me, I made sure to make the effort to visit her once a month.

I waved to my father before he drove off, knowing that he'd be back in an hour when my visit was done. Turning back to the nursing home, I walked inside and smiled to a woman that sat at the desk. She smiled in return, nodding silently. I knew most of the staff here at the nursing home, and they knew me.

By the time I got to my grandmother's rooms, I'd been stopped a few times, but by now I was used to it. I knocked, as I often did, and opened the door slowly when I heard my grandmother's voice say I could come in.

Linnea Tripoli sat in her rocking chair near the window, a book in her lap as her eyes watched me. She smiled kindly when she saw me. "Hello, are you the person who's here to talk to me today?"

I smiled, nodded. "I am, my name is Julianna. It's nice to meet you Ms. Tripoli."

"Please, call me Linnea. And Julianna, what a lovely name." She smiled kindly, my smile growing in response.

This was the typical routine, and a part of me always hurt when I saw no recognition in her elderly, golden eyes. Like me and my mother, my grandmother Linnea had the Tripoli golden eyes. She never commented on it, in all the times that I've visited her here.

"Okay, Linnea then. Were you reading?" I asked as I walked farther into the room, going to sit at the small table near where she was now.

"Ah, I was, yes." She said, looking down at her book with a smile. "Ever since I was a little girl, I've been fascinated with ancient Greek." Linnea looked back up at me. "That's about the only thing I seem to be able to remember, those old tales."

"Well, at least that's something, right?" I asked with a gentle smile. "It's better than not being able to remember anything."

"I suppose you're right." Linnea said with a small sigh. "But there are many times I wonder if I have family. The caretakers here tell me I'm nearly 80 years old, that's old enough to be a grandmother, surely! But I wouldn't be able to know if my own grandchild walked into this room to talk to me."

My heart ached behind the smile I kept on my face. "I'm sure your family visits as often as they can." I said softly.

"That thought makes me happy." Linnea told me. "I can't imagine the pain they feel, whenever I don't recognize them."

The following silence lasted a few minutes as I thought of the days when my grandmother was active, adventurous, and could remember what I looked like. She's been in this home for nearly four years now, and when I had been twelve, it was hard to accept what was happening to her.

"So, Julianna, you're a young, beautiful girl. Any boyfriends?" Linnea asked, breaking the silence and bringing me from my thoughts.

I smiled a bit, this time a genuine smile. "That's a long story." I explained.

"So is that a yes or a no?" She grinned, clearly amused as I blushed slightly.

"We haven't labeled it anything." I told her. "We only told each other that we liked each other like that last week, at my birthday party actually. With him, it's different. I've dated one guy before, but he was nothing like Stiles. Stiles is sweet and kind and hilarious and just so amusing. He always knows how to make me smile. But I also know there's something he's not telling me, something that might be dangerous. I understand that he doesn't want me involved, the situation in which we met led him to being really protective of me, but if he's in danger, I should be worried, right?"

"Well, seeing as how you seem to really care for this boy, I'd say that yes, you should be worried." Linnea nodded, a small frown on her face. "But if Stiles is involved in something dangerous, are you sure you want to be involved with him? Maybe part of the reason why he might be in danger is because he is too."

I laughed, trying to picture as Stiles being a villain. "I've only known Stiles for two and a half months, like really gotten to know him, but he's no bad guy. He's my Batman…and I'm his Canary."

Had I been paying attention to my grandmother in that moment, I would have seen the slight fear in her eyes. I wouldn't have been able to understand it, or the recognition that was there as well, let alone explain it. Had I been looking into my grandmother's face as I spoke just then, I would have learned that Stiles and Scott weren't the only ones who'd been keeping secrets from me.

"You mentioned you just celebrated your birthday, how old are you now?" Julianna asked, changing the subject as soon as her face was schooled into one of amusement again.

"Oh, sixteen." I said with a smile, looking up at her again.

Her smile widened. "Well then Julianna, I hope you enjoy a good romance story, because I have a good one."

I chuckled softly and nodded. "I'd love to hear it." I told her.

* * *

A beautiful young woman walked along the creek bed, trees reaching up to touch the sky surrounded her. Her dark brown hair was held back from her face in a braid, allowing any who saw her face to take in the high cheek bones, clear complexion, and the slight curve of her nose. But the one thing that many took note of when it came to the nymph's features were the glow behind her unnaturally golden eyes.

Fingers skimmed against the leaves of a bush before the nymph jumped to the creek's center, landing gracefully on a damp rock without a single fault. She smiled joyfully before she became suddenly overwhelmed with the feeling of fear. Her hand shot up, clutching her stomach as her eyes roamed the woods around her.

The sound of a gurgled groan caused her eyes to snap to farther down the creek. The sight that met her eyes caused her to slip from her perch on the rock, splashing cool water up to her knees, soaking into the loose pants the nymph wore.

On his back lay a young man, short brown hair soaked and plastered to his head. The water of the creek splashed over him gently, leaving him completely soaked. The nymph raced to the human's side, ignoring the chill and wet of the water as she fell to her knees next to him. She cupped his head in her hands, raising it up so that water could no longer splash into his open mouth and drown him.

"Breath." She whispered, commanding him gently.

Light brown eyes opened and he did, coughing up the clear liquid of the creek water he'd managed to swallow in his nearly unconscious state. The nymph tilted his head slightly, ensuring that no water returned to his lungs as he coughed up the last of it.

"Can you move?" She asked moments later, the man's eyes staying open and staring up at her in shock. "I cannot carry you from the water on my own."

The human nodded slowly, staring into those haunting gold eyes. With the nymph's help, he was able to get to his hands and his knees, crawling from the water and collapsed back onto the drier dirt just feet from the water.

She kneeled next to him again, her eyes taking in the blood soaked shirt that clung to his torso. She lifted the wet fabric, gasping slightly as the tears of flesh along his side, resembling claw marks. Steeling herself, the nymph clenched her jaw and placed her hands on the man's side, closing her eyes.

Calling upon the life in the trees and plants around her, the nymph used the energy of the things around her to force this human male's body to heal faster than it could. She knew what creature had attacked this innocent man, leaving him to die in the woods. No animal would leave their prey to die in the woods, not one of natural means at least. No, the thing that had attacked this poor man was half animal, half man.

When the nymph's eyes opened again slowly, and she smiled when not even a scar was left behind on the man's torso. Her golden orbs turned up to his face, her smile softening at the peace she saw there.

Pride in her abilities caused the nymph to giggle softly, for everyone around her had always doubted what she was capable of. Taking in the sleeping man's face fully since she'd first seen him in the creek, the nymph gently moved his hair out of his face. He was indeed handsome, now that his skin was returning to its healthy color. Her smile returned before she leaned down to plant a simple, chaste kiss on his cheek. "Stay safe stranger." She whispered. "I'm off to make sure the one who did this to you doesn't do it again, to anyone."

She pulled away from him, standing on her feet again. She looked up to the trees that stood tall around them. "Watch over him." She commanded softly, sparing the human one last glance before she raced off into the woods again.

Traveling at an unnatural speed, at least on human terms, it did not take the nymph long to reach her destination. The grand house that stood before her, surrounded by the woods she called home, she slowed her pace and frowned slightly.

"Zander!" She called, her body rigged as she called out to the alpha of the werewolf pack that resided in her town, her woods. "I request to speak with you this instant, show yourself!"

The nymph did not have to wait long, but her frown deepened when it was not Zander who appeared in the doorway of the house, but instead the wolf's daughter, Talia.

"Where is your father?" The nymph demanded. "I have urgent business to discuss with the alpha."

"My father is dead, tree-ling, only hours so." Talia spoke, sorrow in her voice as she walked down the steps that lead up to her door, crossing the grass to stand before the nymph. The young she-wolf's eyes flashed red for a moment before returning to their more humane color. "He was attacked by an omega who did not accept our rules. The omega has been dealt with, but my father had been left with wounds no wolf could heal from. In his final moments, my father asked me to take his life, and his status as an alpha."

The nymph's expression softened and she reached out, placing a hand on the young woman's arm. "My apologies Talia, I was not aware." She spoke gently, hoping she could give the other woman some sort of comfort. "This omega, could they have possibly attacked others without you and your family knowing?" She asked. "I stumbled upon a wounded human with the claw marks of a werewolf in his side. He is healed now, and will live, but I want to be sure there is no creature in my woods that will harm the humans of our town."

"As long as he was truly a lone omega, the people here should be safe." Talia told the nymph. "My brother and some of the others are ensuring that there is no sign of other werewolves before we are sure, but I have a feeling everything will be fine."

The nymph nodded, letting out a relieved sigh. "Thank you Talia. I will ask the trees to help in the search." She told the new alpha. "How is your husband and the children?"

Talia smiled solemnly. "The children still do not understand that their grandfather is no longer with us, but I understand such things. Laura is only seven herself, Derek nearly six. They are still too young to truly understand death, and it has barely been a quarter of a day."

"Your father will be missed." The nymph told the other woman, smiling gently. "He was a wise, kind alpha, and I'm sure you will make him proud."

"Thank you, tree-ling." The new alpha smiled at her friend, earning a grin for the use of the nymph's nickname.

"Well, I must go Talia. I must ensure that the human I saved is able to find his way home." The nymph told her.

Talia smiled, nodding in understanding before the wood nymph turned and ran back into the forest, quickly disappearing from the young alpha's sight.

But, when the nymph returned to where she had left the human sleeping, he was gone.

It took several days for her to see him again, though at first, he did not recognize her. But when he did, the young man had many questions. Mainly, he wanted to know if he had merely dreamt of the human-like monster that had attempted to take his life, and the nymph healing him, but, seeing as a nymph could not directly lie, and the young man's questions were so insistent, she could do nothing but tell him everything.

At first, the human had not believed her, but when she had taken up a handful of dirt, and demonstrated her powers of nature by allowing a small tree to begin to grow rapidly before their very eyes, he had no choice but to believe her. This truth sparked a great friendship between man and nymph.

But, as the two spent more time together, they discovered that friendship was not what they truly wanted. No, slowly, the nymph was falling for the human man just as he was falling for her. And while all the nymph wanted was to finally be able to be happy and no longer alone in her life, there were never any true happy endings in the world.

It had come suddenly, so much so that the nymph had not been sure how to accept it as the years passed after.

"Come with me, my love," the man spoke, holding the nymph's hands in his own, a small smile on his handsome face. "Something of my past needs me to leave this town and make things right. I do not know how long I will be gone, but I want you to come with me."

Pain and misery tore at the nymph's heart at his words, causing her eyes to fill with tears. "Darling, I cannot, for what I am makes me bound to this place, I cannot leave it. Please, do not go, stay here with me and together we can be happy."

The man frowned, reaching up to cup her face in his hands. "I am sorry, dear one, but I must go. I must right these wrongs, and it pains me more than you know to have to say this, but with or without you, I cannot turn my back on this." He told her, closing his eyes. When he opened them again moments later, his breath caught in his throat at the sight of his beloved nymph crying silently at the idea that they must separate, after nearly a year together. "I will always love you, my beautiful love."

"And I will always love you." The nymph breathed, giving him one last kiss before the man pulled away. He turned his back to her with pain swimming in his eyes, walking away to never return.

* * *

"So, did they ever meet again?" I asked, frowning slightly. "The man and the nymph?"

"They did not." My grandmother told me. "And maybe that is for the best."

I blinked, frowning slightly. "You make it sound like it actually happened, your story. I know it's not a Greek myth, too many details lead to it being set in a more modern time." I stated, looking at her.

"Well, because it did happen." Linnea smiled softly at me. "It is no Greek myth, child. One thing that I have remembered with my illness Julianna is that there is much more to this world than most of us believe. We are aware of it, on a certain level, because to us, it's fiction. Myths, legends, fairy tales, you name it. Many of them are actually true. Now, I don't know if the nymphs were true descendants of the gods, but I do know that they are out there, like there are many things out there that we didn't think were. So, be cautious child, your worst nightmares may live just down the street."

* * *

**Things are about to get very interesting, no? :)**

**Sorry for the lateness of this chapter, it was a busy week, so this chapter is only 50% edited. Before I go, just wanted to let you know that if you follow my Polyvore account, I'm having issues with the editor not working, which is why I haven't added a new outfit/set for new chapters of this story or JET lately. I would if I could, it's just so frustrating! I can't load up anything in the thing!**

**Anyways, next chapter Julie meets two new people, though we all know them well! Derek and Deaton both make an appearance and things really start to pick up from here. For those of you who are catching on to what might be happening here, I'd like to quote someone who reviewed Just Enough Time 'no-one in this series can stay human or not know about the supernatural'.**

**Well, with that, I'll bid you all ado! See you next Saturday with Chapter 9! Oh, and don't forget to leave a review with your thoughts on the chapter! I always love to see what you guys think.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Yay, new chapter! Sorry again for not being able to get this done by last Saturday, hopefully things will settle down a bit more, since I have yet to start chapter 10 for next week.**

**Anyways, I know I originally said that we'd see Dr. Deaton in this chapter, but the whole forest scene ended up to be long enough for a chapter, and if I tried to add the scene I have planned for the Animal Clinic, I might not have had time to get it up by today. He'll be in next chapter, I promise! And I know Derek comes off as an extreme creep, but I can promise he will be less creepy when he appears next, but that won't be until I start writing from the actual show, when Scott gets his tattoo.**

**Oh, and I mentioned it in the really long Author's Note in the final chapter of Just Enough Time, but I'm planning out a new story, this time a Derek/OC, to start posting in early June. The current title is The Wolf Doctor, which I think I'll be sticking too, but I just wanted to let you guys know what's to come. I have the first eight chapters planned out, and it's a little crazy how easy it is for me to include my OC for the story, Grace, into the plot of season 2.**

**Anyways, I'll leave you guys to read on, so enjoy! And don't forget to leave a review if you can! Ciao!**

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"So, any reason why we're out here in the middle of the woods?" Scott asked as he followed after me as I walked quickly through the woods with practiced ease. Ever since my visit to the nursing home yesterday, hearing the story my grandmother had told me, my brain had been running almost non-stop. Something about what she'd told me wasn't sitting right, like there was something in her story that seemed familiar, too familiar.

I had stayed up late last night, doing as much reading about nymphs as I could. I probably only got about two hours of sleep, maybe three. Looking over my shoulder at Scott, I let out a sigh. "I need answers to a few things." I told him.

"And we couldn't tell Stiles why?" Scott asked, and I rolled my eyes as I heard the smile in his voice.

"I just…I need to think clearly and I can't really do that with Stiles." I told him. "He talks too much." I blinked then stopped, looking at him. "You're talking too much."

Scott stopped next to me and smiled. "Sorry." He said with a small shrug. "So, where are we going exactly?"

"A place my grandmother used to bring me when I was little." I told him. "Before her Alzheimer's really set in at least."

Scott blinked a few times and winced. "Oh, I'm really sorry. So, is it bad?"

"We had to put her in the hospital when she fell down the stairs and broke her hip. It was agreed that it would be better if there was always someone to be there to keep an eye on her, but we couldn't do that." I explained and shrugged, frowning. As I began to walk again, I continued to talk. "All she really remembers are stories, mostly Greek myths. But when I visited her yesterday, she told me a story I didn't recognize. And trust me, she told me so many stories over the years. And there was something off about it, the story." I paused in my talking, looking at the entrance to the gully that lead to the tree that had been planted for my mother. "Did you know in Greek mythology, there are several types of nymphs?" I asked, entering the gully with Scott close on my heels.

"Like the spirits of rivers and stuff?" Scott asked.

"Yeah. That would be water nymphs, naiads. Nymphs often dwelled in mountains, groves, trees, and even in places like this." I said, reaching out to touch the rough dirt walls that stretched up above us. "Dryads are nymphs that dwell in oak trees, but there is a special kind, hamadryads, that are bound to their tree so much, that they can never go too far from it. Nymphs could live hundreds of years, but if any damage was done to the place they dwelled, it was believed that they would lose their immortality, that they would become human."

"So we're in the woods because of a story your grandmother told you that had to do with nymphs and that lead you here?" Scott asked.

I stopped right before the bend in the gully that lead into the area where the California Redbud was, looking back at Scott again. "That, and because she told me that there's more to the world than what we think, than what we see. Scott, this is going to sound completely insane, but what if she was right? Nymphs, gods, _werewolves_? What if they actually exist?"

Scott's eyes widened, and I froze for a moment when I realized that what I wasn't telling him wasn't the only thing he was shocked about. "Scott, what do you know?" I asked, stepping towards him.

He blinked, shaking his head suddenly. "Nothing!"

"You are a bad liar Scott McCall." I told him, advancing as he took steps back. "I know there's something you and Stiles aren't telling me Scott, and if it has anything to do with this random crap my grandmother is spewing about mythical creatures being real, I think I have a right to know!"

"Julie, I don't think what your grandmother told you yesterday has anything to do with what Stiles and I aren't telling you, and trust me, the only reason why we haven't told you is because it's not safe." Scott told me, his back now against the dirt.

I groaned in frustration, turning away from him and going into the small valley like space. I could hear Scott following me, but I pushed my worries about his and Stiles' safety to the back of my mind, for the moment, and walked right up to the tree before me. My cheeks blushed slightly as I remembered my dream about having my first kiss with Stiles under its branches, but shook the memory from my mind.

I had to stand on one of the roots in order to reach it, the engraving in the bark that my father had carved in the tree before I was born. I ran my finger over the letters that had been carved into the tree to form the names of my parents' names. I smiled softly for a moment, before it turned to a concentrated frown.

"You think that if nymphs are real, that tree is the dwelling of one, but he or she is aging because of that carving, don't you?" Scott asked, standing a few feet away as he watched me.

My gaze lowered slightly, the frown on my lips deepening slightly. After a few moments, I sighed and turned my head, looking at my friend. "Scott, my grandmother told me years ago that this tree was planted for my mother, when my grandmother was pregnant with her." I told him. "So if this tree is the dwelling of any nymph, wouldn't that mean that she's one? Would that make me one?"

Scott's jaw clenched as he looked at me, eyes wide slightly in surprise. He opened his mouth, getting ready to say something, when a shrill sound cut through the quiet of the woods around us, causing both of us to snap our heads up towards the top of the dirt walls that surrounded us in the gully.

"That sounded like a bird," I said softly, "one that's hurt." I shifted slightly, allowing my feet a better position before I hoisted myself up into the branches above me.

"Where are you going?!" Scott called, moving to the trunk of the tree so he could see me easier through the leaves.

I looked back down and smiled, my frustration with him forgotten, for now. "To see if there's an injured bird up there." I told him. "Climbing the tree is the fastest way up, and if it continues to be that loud, then we need to hurry. Who knows what predator is ready to take advantage of an injured bird." As soon as I'd finished speaking, I returned my gaze back up to the branches above me and started to climb higher, thankful to the fact that the tree grew so close to the dirt wall.

I heard rustling below me, and quickly assumed that Scott had started to climb after me. It didn't take me long until I was able to pull myself from the tree branches to the top of the dirt wall. I had to jump over a small gap, but years of experience doing this very thing allowed me to clear it with ease, landing safely on solid ground.

I was scanning the forest floor around me when Scott scrambled to his feet next to me. I shot him a quick grin before the bird call sounded again. I turned towards it, intent on finding the bird, in case it really was injured.

It wasn't far from the edge of the gully that we found the bird, a dove actually. It's wing was held out to its side limply.

"You were right." Scott breathed, taking a step closer to the bird.

"Wait!" I cried out softly, holding an arm out to stop him. He blinked, looking at me, confused. "Scott, you're the one that works at an animal clinic, you should know as well as I that when it comes to wild animals, you can't just go right at it. You'll probably give the poor thing a heart attack and it'll die before we can get it to your boss." I told him. I lowered my hand and started to remove my sweatshirt.

"So what do we do?" Scott asked, lowering his voice to a whisper.

"Try to keep it calm." I responded, moving to stand behind the bird. "And do what we can not to give it a heart attack." I gave him a pointed look, but after he rolled his eyes, he nodded and stepped back, watching me as I approached the bird slowly.

The dove had turned its head to watch me, though it didn't move as I came closer. "Don't worry little one," I said in a soft, soothing voice, "we're just going to get you to someone who will help you." The dove shifted slightly, but otherwise didn't move as I gently laid my sweatshirt over it, using it to wrap the dove up carefully so as not to disturb it's injured wing.

"You're really good with birds." Scott said quietly, causing me to look over at him. I smiled softly and shrugged.

"Always have been." I told him. "We had a few canaries when I was younger, I loved them."

Scott smiled and nodded. "It'll be quicker if we cut through the woods. Think you'd be okay to stay here while I go get my motor bike?" He asked.

I looked at him and nodded. "Sure." I said hesitantly. "But be quick, we need to get this little guy to Dr. Deaton."

"Yeah, two minutes." He said before walking around the edge of the gully and in the direction in which we'd come.

As I waited, I cooed to the bird in my hands, trying to keep it calm. It didn't seem to be too stressed, which even with this unnatural ability that resulted in wild birds liking me more than they should, seemed odd.

A twig snapped, towards the direction that Scott had walked off to five minutes before. My head snapped up, eyes surveying the trees, but only silence followed.

"Scott?" I called softly, taking a step back nervously. Silence followed my call, and my heart started to beat rapidly in my chest.

Suddenly, there was a rustle of leaves behind me, causing me to turn slowly, a part of me still afraid to upset the bird in my hands. At the sight of a man standing mere feet from me, a scream rose up my throat, but I bit it back, again thinking of the dove. Instead, I whimpered slightly.

"Sorry!" The man said, holding a hand up. "Didn't mean to scare you."

"Who are you?" I demanded, taking a step back.

For a moment, the man looks confused, blinking for a second. "Scott and Stiles didn't tell you about me?"

I pursued my lips, brows furrowed. "You know Scott and Sti-" I paused, blinking suddenly as a memory came to the front of my mind. "You're Derek?" I asked, shocked.

"You seem surprised." He stated, smirking slightly.

"I was expecting someone…younger." I confessed, swallowing nervously. "And not, umm…Derek Hale."

"I see you pay attention to the news. Well, you should know I was exonerated." He told me.

"Still, kinda creepy how tall, dark, and … silent, just appears in a forest to some lonely teenage girl."

Derek chuckles, watching me. "No need to be so afraid Julianna."

"How do you know my name?" I ask him, taking another step back. My eyes have widened, my breath is coming in short breaths, and I know Derek knows just how afraid I am, well, how afraid I would be. But Derek didn't know what happened to me, so he didn't know exactly how afraid I suddenly was. That much was clear on the momentary confusion I saw on his face.

"You know, Julianna, I think the real question here is, what are you?" Derek asked, his smirk turning into a frown. "I mean, really, what are you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." I told him honestly, because I didn't, I was so unsure at that moment. "You know, Scott's going to be back in a few minutes, and I don't think he's going to be too happy with you here, scaring the _hell_ out of me."

"Sorry." He said softly. "Like I said before, didn't mean to scare you." He then blinks, his frown deepening as his eyes move up to something behind me. "Hello Scott."

I turned my head to look over my shoulder, feeling my fear subside as I saw Scott approaching with his green dirt bike. I blinked, surprised slightly when I realized that Scott didn't looked surprised himself at Derek's presence. No, he looked pissed.

"What are you doing here Derek?" Scott practically growled as he walked up to us, stopping next to me.

"Just saying hello." Derek stated, glaring at Scott in return. I glanced between the two hesitantly.

"Scott, we should head to the vet." I reminded him, just wanting to get out of the woods at this point. I glanced over at Derek, who was watching me again, his face blank. I quickly looked away again, swallowing nervously.

Scott looked at me, his clear irritation washed, sensing my sudden discomfort. He nodded, glancing over at Derek again before silently ushering me in the direction of the woods that would lead us towards the animal clinic.

I could feel Derek watching us as we walked away, my skin crawling under his scrutiny. But then I thought about how Scott and Stiles were apparently trying to help Derek find his friends, about how I'd looked at a year book from my freshman year to see Boyd and Erica's faces. I stopped in my tracks, causing Scott to look back at me questioningly.

I ignored him, turning back to Derek. As I'd expected, he was looking at me, his hands still shoved into the pockets of his dark leather jacket. "Listen, Derek, you seriously creep the hell out of me, but I do hope you find your friends." I told him, watching him blink in shock before turning and started walking with Scott again.

"That was nice of you." Scott said, glancing at me.

I looked at him, shrugging slightly as I adjusted my gentle grip on the dove. "Derek Hale may be a creepy, brooding, dangerous possible killer, but I'm decent human being Scott, and if his friends are in danger, than, for them, I'm concerned."

Scott chuckled softly, ducking his head slightly as he smiled. I raised an eyebrow at him, smiling softly myself.

"What's so funny?" I asked.

Scott glanced up, his lips still smiling even though there was a mix of emotions in his eyes. I saw uncertainty, hesitation, and a touch of fear. The combination made me want to frown slightly.

"It's just…Stiles and I, we feel like we have to protect you, from what's going on." He started, causing me to really frown this time. "And I know you want answers, I get it. About a year ago, I wanted answers for something too. But please, Julie, take it from someone who knows. Answers are more dangerous now than you think, that's why we don't want to tell you."

I blinked, looking down for a moment. "I get it." I said, looking back up. "But think of it from my perspective. You and Stiles, you've both told me that you aren't telling me the truth because you want to keep me safe. But what about the two of you?"

Scott winced at that, but before he could respond, I continued.

"The two of you say that you're involved in something dangerous, something that could but me at risk. All that makes me think about is the fact that the two of you are involved in something that can risk your safety. I don't care about what happens to me if it means that finding out will put me at ease, not let my imagination escape me and cause me to think that you two are in so far over your heads."

"And what if it's the opposite?" Scott asked, frowning slightly as he watched me. "What if finding out the secret we're keeping from you makes things like your worry worse?"

I stopped, looking at him straight in the eyes with a gentle determination. "Then at least I'll be ready to stand next to you. Scott, I'm questioning my own humanity here, as well as my sanity. I'll wait, though not patiently, mind you, for when you two are ready to tell me everything, but you should know something. I may seem fragile, but that doesn't mean I'm breakable."


End file.
